Sam's Secret
by pmbb
Summary: Everyone on Team One thinks they know the rookie; he's the shoot first, ask questions later military type. What will they do when they find out their new rookie has a secret none of them knew about—a special little secret with blonde hair and blue eyes, just like her daddy? New chapter up!
1. Chapter 1

**The idea for this story was about 50% inspired by one of my favorite NCIS:LA stories and 50% inspired by that happy little Sam-centric bunny trail my thoughts take me on sometimes. I hope you enjoy!**

 **If you read the most recent SAMTASTIC update (chapter 4), then you are already familiar with this chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter One: Unseen Pictures**

 _"What the hell was that Braddock?!"_ Ed raged as he glared at the blonde rookie. The suspects hadn't even been handed over to the unis before Ed started yelling. _"You deliberately went against orders AND you broke cover!"_

Sam zoned out as Ed continued his rampage. He had heard it all before. Several times. He'd been on Team One for over a month now and things were just as rocky as they were day one.

The SRU was completely different than JTF2; the shoot-first, ask questions later mentality he'd had for so long wasn't going to cut it anymore. He knew that and he was trying his hardest to change, but none of his "teammates" even seemed willing to help him; all they did was berate him.

Not one member of Team One bothered to correct him when he made a mistake or help him when they saw him struggling; they just yelled at him.

Not one member of Team One bothered to get to know him; they just judged him based on preconceived notions regarding his military background and the comments of others.

This day was no different, though Sam thought it should have been. Ed assigned him Sierra one and ordered him to specific position. Sam went without argument, like the good soldier he'd been raised to be, even though he knew it wasn't the best position from a tactical standpoint.

When things started going south with the gunmen, Sam made the decision to break cover and move from his Sierra spot to a position that was more exposed, but tactically better to watch his teammates' backs.

If looks could kill, Sam would've been dead fifty times over from the menacing look he saw on Ed's face through his scope. It was a look that would've installed fear in anyone else but for Sam, it just foreshadowed the explosive dressing down he was sure to get; the same dressing down he got every time he did something "wrong".

Greg was able to talk both gunmen down and get everyone out safely. The hostages were safe, no one was harmed and no lives had to be taken. Everyone saw the call as a success, except for Ed. The only thing Ed saw was Sam disobeying his orders, just like he always did.

 _"Well?! Are you going to say anything Sam or are you just going to stand there?"_ Ed roared, staring at the silent ex-Special Forces soldier in front of him. He watched as the faraway look in Sam's eyes was replaced with a look of anger.

Sam sighed. He was tired of being treated like an outsider with no skills. " _Things started going south and the subjects moved. I didn't have a clear enough visual on them, the hostages or any of you guys in the position you put me in, so I moved."_

Ed exhaled loudly. _"Next time you want to go against orders, you better clear it with me or the boss first."_

Ed turned to walk away and Sam rolled his eyes. _"Like asking permission would make a difference,"_ Sam mumbled.

Ed stopped dead in his tracks and turned around to face Sam, a terrifying look on his face. _"What was that Braddock?"_

By this time, Greg, Wordy, Spike, Lou and Jules had made it back to the SUVs where Sam and Ed were having their talk. The five of them looked at Sam, waiting to see if cocky rookie answered.

 _"I said 'like asking permission would make a difference'."_ Sam answered, staring back at Ed with a glare that was just as fierce. He crossed his arms tightly across his chest and continued talking. _"I go against orders; I get yelled at. I put my opinion out there or speak my mind about something, I get yelled at. Whatever it is, no matter how big or small, I get yelled at for my 'shoot first, ask questions later soldier mentality' and yet NO ONE here has even bothered to try and help me or show me the ropes. You throw me into the scene and wait for me to fail. You want my respect? It's a two-way street."_

No one had ever heard Sam blow up like that with anyone, especially Ed. They were all so shocked by his outburst that no one said anything; they just stared at him, mouths ajar.

Sam didn't know what came over him, but he had had enough of Ed's crap. All of the anger and emotions he had been bottling up since joining SRU suddenly burst out of him and, for once, he didn't bother to try and push them back down.

" _I'll follow your lead and obey your orders,"_ Sam continued, _"but if you think for one second that I'm going to stand by and let someone hurt the members on my team while I wait for permission, you are sadly mistaken."_

Before either Sam or Ed could say anything else, Greg and Wordy both stepped in to separate the two hotheads before their verbal sparring turned into physical sparring.

Sending his TL and rookie to two different SUVs, Greg shook his head at the current state of his team. Once Team One's job was done, and the unis had the scene under control, everyone got back in the SUVs to head back to the Barn for debrief—a debrief none of them were looking forward too.

...

Debrief went the same as all the rest. No one saw the reason behind Sam breaking cover—all they saw was him disobeying orders. No one tried to see his side of things, or even hear him out. No one even tried to stick up for him and stop the multitude of yelling aimed at him.

Sam figured he'd be used to being yelled at by now. After all, growing up with General Badass as a father and spending years in the military had him well-versed in all types of yelling. However, Sam joined the SRU expecting it to be different, but he was learning first hand that it was not different at all.

...

Sam was the last one to enter the locker room after the debrief ended, a phone call delaying his arrival. By the time he made it in and was changing back into his civilian clothes the other members of Team One were dressed and ready to head out to grab an after-shift drink.

As Sam sat on the bench in front of his locker to put his shoes on, he found himself staring at the many, many pictures on his locker door—pictures he was sure his team hadn't even noticed.

The exhaustion that came with being hated by your entire team was really start to wear on Sam. He reached up to rub his forehead, trying to suppress the headache that threatened to start, and immediately heard scoffs from his teammates. He heard murmurs about how he was "sulking" after being chewed out but he paid them no mind and finished getting dressed.

As Sam stood up ready to go, Ed, Greg, Wordy, Spike and Lou all passed behind him on their way out of the locker room. They walked right past him, not bothering to invite him out with them, not bothering to tell him goodbye; they didn't even bother a simple look his way.

Had they looked back at him, they would've seen straight into his locker and the pictures that covered the back of his locker door—pictures of one thing in particular; an adorable little girl, no older than 2, with blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

Just like her daddy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ready to meet Sam's daughter?**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Two: The Littlest Braddock**

As Sam left the locker room and made his way out to his car, he waved goodbye to Winnie and the members of Team Four, who had just started their pre-shift workout.

In the time he'd been with the SRU, Sam had gotten close to Team Four; they were usually coming on shift when Team One was finishing theirs and they often ran into each other in the locker room. In fact, Sam had gotten close with all of the teams, except for Team One. His own team hated him.

 _I must be cursed,_ Sam thought to himself as he exited the Barn and arrived at his car. It seemed, to him, that every team he had ever been placed on hated his guts. Sure, his JTF2 team only hated him for a few days, but they could always put their feeling aside and focus on the task at hand, something his teammates on Team One have yet to do.

As Sam reached his car and climbed inside, he caught a glimpse of the small picture sticking out from underneath his visor and suddenly, all of his problems seemed to disappear.

Smiling, Sam reached up and pulled the picture down. Bright blue eyes (an exact copy of his) stared back at him, along with the big, toothy smile he loved so much and with one look at that adorable little face Sam knew that he had made the right decision. Leaving the military, something he's known since birth, and his family behind and moving to Toronto proved difficult at times but it was the new beginning he definitely needed.

Putting the picture back where he always kept it, Sam started the car and drove off-leaving his bad day behind him. He had more important, happier and definitely cuter things to focus on and think about.

...

Pulling into the parking lot of Anytime Kids Care, Sam got out of his car and, like a soldier, checked his surroundings making sure everything was safe. Satisfied with his search, Sam put the pass code in on the keypad on the door and headed inside.

Showing his ID to the woman behind the counter and throwing her a smile, Sam entered through another secured door and headed down the colorful hallway to the room on the end.

One step inside the room, Sam's ears were assaulted by a high-pitched squeal of "DADDY!" and a tiny, blonde whirlwind ran full-speed towards him and crashed into his legs, wrapping her little arms around them.

Smiling a face-splitting smile, Sam bent down and picked the little girl up. He gave her a big hug before repositioning her in his arms so he could look at her. "Hey munchkin! Did you have fun today?"

Her excited nod made her curly blonde pigtails bounce up and down.

Sam smiled. "Are you ready to go home?"

Again, she nodded, even more excited this time.

"Alright," Sam said, putting her back down on the ground. "Go grab your backpack and say goodbye to your teacher."

"Otay daddy!" The little girl shouted as her little legs took her over to the cubbies where her backpack was. Putting it on as best she could, she ran over to her teacher who was still with the other kids. "Bye Ms. Jenna! See you 'morrow!"

Jenna smiled and looked down at one of her favorite kids. "Bye Maddie! I'll see you tomorrow!"

Maddie smiled and rushed back to her dad's side. Sam took her hand and led her out of the daycare.

Little Madelyn Claire Braddock, or Maddie as she was affectionately called, was every bit her father's daughter. In looks alone, there was no denying her Braddock parentage, and personality wise, she was just as headstrong, stubborn and compassionate as Sam was.

She was confident, incredibly smart and, unfortunately, she had seen and been through more in her two short years of life than other people have in their entire life. She was born during one of the rare times Sam was on leave during his second tour, but for the majority of her first year of life, any contact she had with her father and her namesake "Uncle Matt" was through Skype since Sam and Matt were both deployed. Then Uncle Matt died and daddy came home and as much as he tried to be a loving and involved father, Sam struggled with overwhelming guilt and Maddie picked up on it. Then Audrey, Sam's ex and Maddie's mother, found a "new calling" in life—one that did not involve being a mother—and left Toronto, her family, friends and her eighteen-month old daughter behind. Sam got full, undisputed custody of Maddie. He packed their lives up and made the move to Toronto, taking Maddie away from everything she'd ever known, but giving them both the fresh start that they both needed.

Arriving at the car, Sam opened the door to the back seat and got Maddie loaded in her car seat. After making sure she was buckled in safety, Sam shut the door, walked around the car to his side, got in and drove off—starting the long trek home.

Maddie's daycare was a bit of a drive out of the way, but it was open 24/7 and primarily geared towards the children of doctors, nurses, fire fighters, police officers and others who have weird hours and overnight shifts. The security was great, the staff was well-trained and most importantly, Maddie loved it so the extra drive was well worth it in Sam's opinion.

...

About thirty minutes after leaving Anytime Kids Care, Sam and a very sleepy Maddie arrived back at the apartment. Sam lifted a sleeping Maddie out of her car seat and into his arms. Throwing both his and her bags over his shoulder, Sam locked the car and carried Maddie inside.

Entering the apartment, Sam flipped the lights on and Maddie stirred in his arms. Looking down, Sam saw a pastor of tired blue eyes staring back at him. Smiling at her, Sam dropped their bags by the front door and moved his free hand to Maddie's back. "Hey munchkin; you ready to eat and get ready for bed?"

Maddie nodded into his shoulder, not ready to get out of her daddy's arms yet. Sam rubbed her back and moved into the kitchen, Maddie still being held in his arms. He filled a pot with water and put it on the stove to boil. Macaroni and cheese, a meal Sam had mastered in his last few months of single parenting, was on the menu for tonight since he and Maddie were both too tired for anything more extravagant.

While the water was boiling, Sam sat Maddie down on the couch and put on a movie to keep her distracted.

Sam finished the macaroni and cheese and moved Maddie into the dining room for dinner.

After dinner was finished, Sam carried the cheese-covered toddler into the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes of splishing, splashing and bubble-filled fun, Sam was drenched and Maddie was cleaned, dressed in her favorite pair of princess pajamas and ready for bed.

Sam carried Maddie into her bedroom and laid her down in her bed. After completing their normal nighttime routine (which consists of reading several books and sometimes singing a few songs) Sam tucked Maddie snuggly into her bed. Bending down, he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I love you Madelyn," Sam whispered to her.

"I wove you too daddy," Maddie responded as she drifted off to sleep.

Sam stood up and quietly left Maddie's room, turning on her night light as he left.

...

As Sam readied himself for bed a little while later, he thought back on the past few months. Sam's life post-military life with the SRU wasn't nearly what he thought it's be, and there were still days where he found himself wondering if he had made the right decision, but one look at Maddie and how happy she was here made him realize that he HAD made the right choice.

He would tough it out at the SRU and he would make the best out of their new home in Toronto because there wasn't ANYTHING Sam wouldn't do for his little girl.

* * *

 **Not a lot of "action", but I really wanted to introduce Maddie to you guys and give y'all a feel of Sam and Maddie's relationship PLUS a little bit of backstory.**

 **I hope you enjoyed!**

 **Stay tuned for this next update and the next SAMTASTIC update!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm so glad you guys are loving this story so far!**

 **I was planning on updating SAMTASTIC before updating this story, but I don't like any of the ideas I've come up with so far.**

 **Sorry updates are taking so long to get up; working two jobs is exhausting, but I'm trying my hardest to not make y'all go TOO long without either an update here or on SAMTASTIC!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Three: The Best Weekend Ever**

After working more than a week straight with no off days, the members of Team One were all looking forward to their three days off—some more than others. Sam missed Maddie; this had been the longest Team One had gone without a day off since he had joined the team. He needed to regroup and to get his mind back in a good place, and the best way he knew to do that was to spend time with his little pride and joy.

Maddie was really missing spending time with her daddy as well, if the frequent phone calls from her daycare teachers were any indication. She had been acting out more and more and dropping her off became more and more traumatic as the week went on. Maddie would scream and cry and cling to Sam's legs, begging him not to leave her. It was heartbreaking, to say the least, and as much as Sam wanted to call in to work and take time off to spend with Maddie, but he knew it'd be best for both of them in the long run if they both just toughed it out.

Tough it out they did, and now the two of them had three whole days to spend together. No work, no daycare, just Sam and Maddie.

Day one of their three-day weekend consisted of cartoons on the couch, pancakes for breakfast, and spending some quality time with some animals at the Toronto Zoo. Maddie loved animals, all sizes and shapes, and always had, even as a child. She still slept with the same stuffed monkey Sam had given her as a baby every night; it was her absolute favorite, and since she basically her a zoo herself, that was definitely saying something.

Sam and Maddie took their time at the zoo, making sure they stopped by each and every animal. Maddie knew the name of every animal they came too-a discovery that took Sam by surprise even though he knew how smart and advanced Maddie was for her age. Sam's heart soared at his daughter's intelligence but he also prepared himself because he knew that her smarts, mixed with her sassy, fiery personality, would make her a force to be reckoned with once she got older. His baby girl growing up was one thing he didn't think he would ever be prepared for.

After lunch at the zoo's café, TWO trips to the desert line (because it was a special occasion and Sam's normal health-conscious diet went out the window), and two more hours looking at the animals, Sam and Maddie packed up and headed home for a much-needed nap. Sam wouldn't admit it, because he was very prideful about how good of shape he was, but the nap was more for him than it was for Maddie. He could handle day after day of non-stop activity with the SRU without a problem, but there was something about chasing a toddler around all day that just wore him out more than anything.

Day one of three ended with pizza for dinner and pajamas and movies on the couch.

Going to bed that night, Sam felt calmer and happier than he had in days. Nothing made him happier than spending time with Maddie.

Day two proved to be very different. Sam had been ordered by the General to return home, with Maddie, for his mother's birthday. That meant that not only would Sam have to wake Maddie up VERY early in the morning, which was a task in and of itself because Maddie was the polar opposite of a morning person, but he would also have to keep her corralled in a car seat for hours on end during the drive to his parents' house.

Morning came and a very sleepy and grumpy Maddie was strapped into her car seat, crying and fussing the entire time. Thankfully, once Sam started driving, Maddie calmed down and went right back to sleep and stayed asleep for the entire car ride, minus the stop for bathroom breaks and gas fill-up.

Sam and Maddie arrived at the Braddock family home just before 10:00am. Elizabeth Braddock opened the door and took her son into her arms for a hug. However, Sam was quickly pushed aside and replaced in his mother's arms by Maddie, who at this point was wide awake and extremely happy to see her grandmother.

Once Maddie was free from her "nana's" arms, she ran straight into the waiting arms of her favorite (and only) aunt Natalie, who picked her up and spun her around.

Sam said hello to Natalie as well and the only one missing from the welcome party was the General himself.

As Natalie took Maddie into the living room, Sam turned towards his mom. "Where's the General?"

"He had a meeting early this morning. He should be home soon." Elizabeth said. "Please try not to argue with each other. I know he can be unreasonable, but Madelyn doesn't need to hear you two arguing and I certainly don't want to hear any arguing today."

"I can't promise you that there won't be any arguing," Sam said honestly. "But I promise you I'll try my hardest."

Sam's mom rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "That's all I can ask."

Sam would never blatantly disregard a promise, especially to his mother, but trying not to argue with the General was almost as hard and painful as pulling teeth. The simple fact that the General even mentioned the military and the SRU whenever he could was enough to test all of Sam's patience.

Regardless of the tangible animosity between Sam and the General, Mama Braddock's birthday was argument-free and everyone had a great time.

Maddie fell asleep on the car ride back, and in the silence, Sam thought about everything the General said during one of his "come back to the military, come back to where you belong" speeches. _Was he right?_

Sam couldn't deny that he wasn't happy with the SRU, at least not with the team the way they are now. He also couldn't deny that his time in the military wasn't the best either, especially after everything that happened with Matt.

Going back to the military and back to JTF2 was out of the question—there was no way he could deploy and leave Maddie behind. He was the only parent she had left. Sam could leave the SRU—this wasn't the first time the thought had popped into his head. The only thing he hadn't figured out is what he and Maddie would do if he decided to walk away from the SRU. That was something that had continuously plagued his thoughts.

His pride and stubbornness was also getting in the way. He was Sam Braddock and Sam Braddock NEVER walked away from something just because it was difficult or people didn't like him; that was something that had been ingrained in him from a very young age.

There was also a part of him that wanted to stay with Team One just to make them mad. Maybe that was petty, be Sam didn't care; their attitudes sucked and he thought they deserved it.

Sam sighed to himself. He didn't know what to do, but as he looked into his rearview mirror and saw Maddie's sleeping face reflected back at him, he knew he needed to make the right choice for her.

Day two of three ended with Maddie going straight to bed once they returned home and Sam pushing all thoughts about his future with the SRU out of his head. He had one more day off to spend with Maddie and he was not going to let anything take time and energy away from her.

Sam woke up on day three vowing to make it the best day he and Maddie have had all weekend.

The day started out with perfect weather and breakfast at their favorite restaurant.

Breakfast in their bellies, Sam and Maddie headed to the biggest park in Toronto (and Maddie's favorite).

It being the weekend, the park was full of kids and parents. The pavilions were filled with different birthday parties and celebrations and children were running everywhere.

Letting Maddie play by herself, but keeping a very watchful eye, Sam stood at the edge of the playground watching his daughter instantly make friends with the other children. He envied her in that regard; she was so extroverted and innocent, making friends came so easily to her.

Keeping an ever-vigilant eye on Maddie, Sam's other senses were on high alert—watching and waiting for any potential danger.

Alert as he was, Sam was still taken by surprise when he heard a very familiar voice behind him.

"Sam? What are you doing here?"

* * *

 **Dun, dun, dunn...  
(Sorry about the cliffhanger! Please don't hate me!)**

 **Who could the familiar voice belong too? Take a guess!**

 **Also, if you have any prompt ideas for SAMTASTIC, _please_ let me know!**

 **I hope y'all enjoyed!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Who's at the park? Ready to find out?**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Four: Sam's Not Alone**

Sam turned around. "Spike! What are you doing here?"

Spike studied Sam's expression. "My nephew's having his birthday party today at one of the pavilions. I just dropped his present off." Crossing his arms over his chest, Spike continued talking. "Now answer _my_ question; what are you doing here and why are you staring at a playground full of kids?"

Sam immediately got defensive at the accusation in the last part of Spike's question. "Okay, first, don't EVER allude to an accusation like that again and second— "

Before Sam could finish what he was saying an adorable, blonde Tasmania devil slammed into his legs, surprising both Sam and Spike.

"Daddy, I'm hungwy."

Sam looked down at Maddie before looking back up at Spike. The shocked expression on his face would've made Sam laugh on a normal day, but the current circumstances were anything but normal.

Sam reached his hand down and stroked Maddie's hair while Spike looked on, flabbergasted. "Uh, I'm sorry, I think I misheard. Did she just say daddy?"

Sam sighed quietly and picked up Maddie. Holding her in his arms, Sam angled her to where she was facing Spike. "Maddie, this is Spike. Can you say hi?"

Maddie looked up at her daddy, then looked to Spike. Never one to be shy, Maddie smiled her adorable little smile and waved at Spike. Spike, unable to resist Maddie's adorableness, immediately smiled and waved back. "Hi Maddie."

Spike looked away from Maddie and back to Sam, confusion clear on his face.

"Maddie, Spike." Sam repeated the introduction. "Spike, this is Maddie. My daughter."

Even though Sam had just confirmed his suspicions, Spike was still shocked, but that wasn't the only emotion he was feeling. He was ashamed for assuming the things he did when he first saw Sam watching the kids on the playground. He was angry that, even though Sam had been a part of the team for over a month now, he apparently knew nothing about him. Spike also felt bad for the way that he, and the rest of Team One, had been treating Sam because there was clearly more to him than meets the eye.

This moment of reflection also made Spike think of one important question: _does the rest of the team know?_

"Um, wow." Spike said, still a bit taken aback. "Does the rest of the team know about Maddie?"

"Uh no." Sam answered as he adjusted Maddie on his hip. "You're the only one who—"

Before Sam could finish what he was saying, Maddie interrupted him again.

"Daddy!" She whined in over-dramatic toddler fashion. "I'm weally hungwy!"

"I hear ya munchkin, just give me one second, OK?"

Maddie nodded and laid her head down on Sam's shoulder.

Sam looked back at Spike.

"Apparently she's really hungry…" he said with a smirk.

"So I hear," Spike said with a small smile. "I'll let you go and get her something to eat…"

Spike started to turn and walk away, but Sam stopped him. "Spike. I know you have more questions about...all of this," Sam said, gesturing at Maddie and himself. "Why don't you join us for lunch? If you can, that is. I don't want to keep you if you have plans..."

"Uh no, actually I'm free until this afternoon; that's when I'm taking my nephew to see the Lion King as my second birthday gift to him."

"Gotcha. Well, I was thinking about doing lunch at the diner a few streets down. Meet you there in about 10 minutes?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Spike replied, a bit awkwardly. "I'll see you there, both of you."

Sam nodded, then turned and walked with Maddie towards the park's entrance. Spike watched as he left and noticed that Sam's posture was off, and it wasn't just because he was carrying a toddler in his arms. Sam's posture seemed tense, awkward and maybe even a little anxious-three emotions Spike was sure the confident, if not slightly cocky, former soldier was NOT used to feeling.

...

As Spike began walking towards the entrance himself, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw it was a text from Lou, confirming their plans for later that night. As Spike He found them at a booth near the back. Maddie was by the wall in a booster seat, coloring furiously on the kid's menu in front of her, and Sam was next to her by the aisle.

Spike slid into the other side of the booth and a waitress placed a menu and glass of water in front of him almost immediately.

This particular diner was one that Sam and Spike had both frequented several times, so they both knew what the menu had to offer. The waitress was able to take all three orders almost immediately and, after collecting Sam and Spike's menus, left them to talk.

A few awkward moments of silence passed before Spike finally bit the bullet and started asking the multitude of questions that were still on his mind. "How old is Maddie?"

"She just turned two a few months ago."

Spike quickly did the math in his head. "Two? So she was born while you were still in Special Forces?"

"Yeah. She was born during one of the very rare times I was on leave during my second tour. For almost the first year of her life, any contact she had with me was through a computer screen over Skype."

Spike's heart went out to Sam. Leaving your newborn baby behind while you go off to fight in a war, unsure whether or not you'll make it back alive, had to be hard. "Who took care of her while you were gone? Her mom?" At Sam's confirming nod, Spike continued. "Where's she at now?"

Sam sighed. "She left when Maddie was eighteen months old. She, apparently, found a 'new calling' in her life-one that did not involve her being a mother."

Spike's face portrayed the shock he was feeling. "She just left?!"

"Yep." Sam said, popping the 'p' at the end. "Packed her stuff and headed out. I tried to find her, keep her up to date with what was going on with Maddie, but after a few months I received custody papers in the mail. She gave me full custody and signed over all of her parental rights... It's just been me and Maddie ever since."

"If it's just you and Maddie, who watches her while you're at work?"

"She goes to daycare. It's a special 24/7 daycare geared towards parents who work jobs that have unconventional hours like law enforcement, fire fighters and people in the medical field." Sam paused. The waitress had returned with their meals. After making sure Maddie was happily eating her grilled cheese sandwich, Sam continued. "It's not the best option, but with my family in Ottawa, it's the best option I have."

"Wow. I would not have pegged you as a single dad."

Sam looked up from his hamburger to Spike. "Yeah, well, there's a lot you don't know about me."

The sadness in Sam's voice was easily picked up by Spike.

Spike studied the man in front of him. All of Team One had let the way Sam joined their team cloud their judgement of him. They let his rough-around-the-edges, former soldier persona and his shoot first, ask questions later mentality get in the way of seeing him for the man he really was. Yes, his negotiation skills desperately needed to be developed, and he had a knack for taking unacceptable risks, but his skills with a sniper rifle were the best in the entire SRU and his talent for tactical planning rivaled Ed's. There was much more to Sam than anyone knew, and the guilty feelings Spike was experiencing about the way not only he, but the entire team, had treated Sam were quickly overwhelming him.

"Sam, I'm sorry." Spike said sincerely. "I can't apologize for all of Team One and their actions, but I can apologize for mine. The way you joined the team was unconventional; Team One didn't get to pick you, you were just placed with us-something we weren't used to and I guess still aren't. None of us even gave you a chance or offered to help you out if we saw that you needed it. We just yelled at you, as if you were automatically supposed to know what you did was wrong..."

"You never yelled at me Spike." Sam said, trying to ease some of the guilt he knew the man across from him was feeling.

"No, but I never defended you or tried to help you out and for that, I'm sorry. You're good Sam, really good. The other snipers in the SRU, including Ed and Jules, have nothing on you and you give Ed a run for his money when it comes to tactical planning."

Sam smiled the most genuine smile Spike had seen since knowing Sam. "Thanks Spike, I appreciate that."

"That's why you haven't told anyone about Maddie, right? You feel like they won't care?"

"It's one of the reasons. I'm extremely protective of Maddie, as I'm sure you can understand, and I'm not going to introduce her to a bunch of people who could probably honestly care less. She's been through a lot in her two years of life and I don't want her to get use to people who might not be around for the long haul."

"I understand." Spike said, truly getting where Sam was coming from. "Well, I want you to know this: you belong on Team One, whether the others have realized that or not, you do. And you're not alone anymore. If you EVER need anyone to watch Maddie for you, I'm available."

"That means a lot Spike, more than you know. Thank you." Sam smiled again. He moved his hand to Maddie's head. "Now I have a favor to ask. Can we keep Maddie a secret between us for now?"

"Sure," Spike agreed. "But you are going to introduce her to the team eventually, right?"

"Of course, but I want the team to like _me_ first before I introduce them to her." Sam gave a quick chuckle.

Spike laughed as well and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that sounds like a good plan buddy."

...

After lunch had been finished and the meals had been paid for, Spike, Sam and Maddie made their way out of the diner.

Outside, Sam was holding Maddie's hand and Maddie was holding the picture she had been coloring during lunch.

"Alright munchkin, we need to go," Sam said, looking down at Maddie. "Can you say goodbye to Spike?"

Maddie immediately let go of her daddy's hand and surged forward, wrapping her arms around Spike's legs. Spike smiled and bent down, allowing Maddie to give him a real hug. When Maddie pulled away, she held the picture she colored out to Spike. He took it from her.

"Is this for me?"

Maddie smiled and nodded.

Spike smiled back. "Thank you Maddie. It's very pretty."

Maddie smiled at Spike then went back to Sam's side. Spike stood up, said goodbye to Sam and Maddie and went on with the rest of his day-taking his nephew to see the Lion King and meeting up with Lou for beer and pizza before tomorrow's shift.

Sam and Maddie made the most out of the last bit of their day; they saw a movie and got ice cream (with extra toppings, because why not?).

...

Later that night, after Maddie had gone to bed, Sam was up packing his bag for work tomorrow and found that he wasn't dreading it nearly as much as he usually did. Yes, it was going to suck being away from Maddie, but he had found a friend in Spike and hoped that everything the spikey-haired man had told him earlier wasn't a lie.

Only time would tell with all that, but Sam finally knew he wasn't as alone as he thought, and that was a good feeling.

* * *

 **I hope I didn't disappoint anyone with it being Spike in the park and not Wordy or Ed!**

 **Shout out to missblueeyes63 and fanfictionfan63 for being the only two to guess Spike. (:**

 **Next will be a real SAMTASTIC update! Stay tuned!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, SO sorry it's been so long since I've updated this story.**

 **The past few weeks have been...interesting, to say the least. Truth is, I haven't had the time or energy (mentally, physically or emotionally) to get much writing done. I've been working on this and an update for SAMTASTIC as much as I can, but it hasn't been nearly as much as I would've liked.**

 **Thankfully, things are slowing down again, my energy is (somewhat) returning and I'm writing more so *hopefully* you'll never have to go this long without an update again!**

 **A HUGE thank you to everyone who has kept up with this story, left reviews and checked in on me; your support is beyond amazing.**

 **And now, onto the update!**

 ***If you've read all of my SAMTASTIC updates, some of this chapter might sound a little familiar***

* * *

 **Chapter Five: The Hot Call That Changes It All**

An entire month had passed since Spike met Maddie that fateful day in the park and since then, things had changed—not much, but they definitely had changed.

Maddie LOVED Spike, and although she only saw him a few times after their initial meeting, she loved the goofy, spikey-haired tech and bomb guy. In fact, she even began calling him "Unca Spike" by the end the second day they spent together (Sam got roped into working a half shift with Team Three and Spike had offered to watch Maddie so she didn't have to go to daycare).

Spike was still the only one on the team who knew about Maddie. On the some of the rare days where all members of Team One were cohesive and friendly, Sam toyed with the idea of letting more of his teammates in on the Maddie secret, but then he would unknowingly or unintentionally mess up and things would go to hell in a hand basket once again.

Things with Team One were still rocky and, when Spike was around, he would stick up for Sam, but the members of Team One that had the biggest problem with him were not so easily swayed. Lou, Wordy and Greg were all friendly enough, and there was even an undeniable spark with Jules, but Sam and Ed were way too much alike (not that either one of them would admit it) to get along, at least for now anyways.

...

The day's shift had been a long one-multiple hot calls all over the city. It seemed like everyone in the city of Toronto was trying to solve their problems with the help of a gun, something Sam could kind of understand having done so much "problem solving" during his time in Special Forces. However, his time with the SRU was showing him a different way to handle things.

The most recent call they had just received word of seemed to fit the theme of the day's calls: multiple shots fired at Big King's Super Mart, the newest and biggest department store in Toronto and one of the biggest in Ontario.

Pulling up outside of the store, Team One realized just _how_ big Big King's Super Mart actually was and they knew that if they didn't get the situation under control quickly, things could get bad very, very quickly.

As they all unloaded from the SUVs, a police officer walked over to them and extended his hand in greeting to Greg. "Sergeant Parker? I'm Officer Thomas Cobb with Toronto PD."

"Officer." Greg said, shaking the officer's outstretched hand. "What can you tell me?"

"Multiple calls came into dispatch around 6:30. Reports of multiple suspicious men entered and headed towards the back of the store, then the shooting started. Thankfully, this is one of the rare times of the day where there weren't too many shoppers in the store. Everyone went running as soon as they heard the shoots and from a rough look over the security cameras, it looks like all of the customers and some employees managed to make it out."

Greg nodded at the information, thankful and impressed that the officer seemed to be on top of his game. "Any idea how many gunmen we're dealing with and how many others are still inside?"

"Initial reports said three gunmen, but after checking the security camera footage we've learned that there are four gunmen throughout the store and, after checking the employee schedule and comparing names to the employees that got out, there are three employees still unaccounted for."

Greg nodded and shook the officer's hand again. "Thank you, Officer Cobb. Please have your men keep these people back and away from the scene. Have them continue to ask questions and if you get any new, valuable information, please let someone on my team know."

Officer Cobb nodded in agreement and left to talk to his officers. Greg turned to face his own officers.

"Alright team, you heard the man" Greg said. "Lou, I want you in the truck. Watch the security camera feeds and run our gunmen through the facial recognition software—let's see if we can get a hit on these guys and figure out what they want. Jules, you're my second."

At Jules' and Lou's nods, Greg turned to Ed. "Eddie?"

Ed nodded. "There are no windows into the store, so no Sierra position. Wordy, you and I will take the north entrance. Spike, you and Sam will take the south entrance. I'll grab a few unis and they can cover the shipping entrances and provide extra coverage."

Everyone nodded and turned towards the truck to grab their guns and shields. As Sam walked past, Ed grabbed his arm. "NO unacceptable risks, you got that Braddock? You follow the orders that are given, you don't make them up yourself. Understand?"

Sam looked down at his arm and quickly ripped it out of his team leader's hands. Looking up at Ed, with cold eyes, Sam acknowledged what he said. "Yeah, I got it."

Sam stormed off towards the truck and Spike followed, shooting Ed an angry, disproving look. He walked up behind Sam at the back of one of the SUVs. "Listen Sam, about Ed..."

"Just forget it Spike." Sam said, as he continued to check his gun. "I know he still doesn't trust me. I know he still thinks I don't belong on this team. I came to terms with all of that a long time ago... It's been a long day; I just want to get this situation ended peacefully and go home."

Jules and Lou were making their way around the trucks and happened to hear the tail end of their conversation. They saw the look the two of them shared and the small, knowing smile that came across Spike's face. Lou was warming up to Sam, Spike being a big influence on his change of heart towards the rookie, but Jules still wasn't a fan of the cocky former soldier and she just _knew_ that he was a playboy outside of the SRU. She couldn't believe that he was alluding to things like that at work, on a hot call no less. Jules decided to call him out on it.

"Got big plans tonight, Sammy?" Jules asked, a slightly condescending tone in her voice. "She must be pretty special if you're basically bringing her up at work..."

Sam rolled his eyes and Spike shot Jules a look that could've killed.

"Actually _Constable_ _Callaghan,"_ Sam said with a pointed glare, hoping that using her official title would show her that she was being far more unprofessional than she was insinuating he was. "I do."

Sensing the tension that was so thick it could've been cut with a plastic knife, Lou tried to ease some of it. "Which one is it this time?" Lou asked in a joking, lighthearted way. "Blonde, brunette or red head?"

Sam cracked a small smile and looked at Lou, a man that was quickly becoming one of his closest friends. "Blonde." Sam said with a wink. "Cute smile, gorgeous blue eyes..."

" _Sounds like our Sammy boy is in love,"_ Wordy's voice came through the comms.

Those who were around Sam saw the big smile that broke out on his face. "Oh you have no idea..."

In reality, Wordy was one of the few people around him that actually knew the type of love Sam was describing, with Wordy being a father himself, but there was no way Sam was going to say that over the comms. This conversation was already pushing the boundaries of his comfort zone.

" _Alright boys and girl,"_ Greg's commanding voice came over the comms. " _Let's focus; we can grill Sam about his love life later."_

Everyone effortlessly slipped back into professional mode; there was still a job to do.

...

From the truck, Lou was able to hack into the security cameras and cut the feed inside so the gunmen, if they were watching the cameras, wouldn't be able to see Team One coming, but Team One would still have eyes and ears in.

Ed, Wordy, Sam and Spike, flanked by about 4 unis, made a silent entry into the giant super store.

Thanks to a warning from Lou, the team knew that the gunmen had, at one point, all converged in the back offices with the hostages, but were no longer there. The hostages were safe, all three currently zip-cuffed in the office, but the gunmen were avoiding the cameras.

With a quick look at the building's layout on the blueprints, Ed divided the building into quadrants and sent a two-person team to each one. Their mission is to find the gunmen and arrest them. Greg gave them Scorpio if they needed it, but they were all hoping to avoid that; no one ever wanted to take a life.

The members of Team One, both inside and outside of the building, kept in constant communication with each other and the unis over the comms. They would quietly call in updates when they completed searching an area and when they started searching a new one.

After almost ten minutes of searching, three subjects had been found and arrested. The unis took the three arrested men out of the building, and Greg sent Jules and Lou in to help find the last gunman.

Ed was standing by the registers, having cleared his quadrant and checked the ones that the unis cleared, with Wordy, Jules and Lou while Spike and Sam finished searching their quadrant. They were talking with Greg over the comms when two gunshots sounded, in close succession, from the far side of the store. Ed, Wordy, Lou and Jules began making their way towards the source of the gunshots and calling Spike and Sam over the comms for a status update. Their steps quickened to a full-out sprint when they heard Spike yell "Sam!" over the comms, fear clearly evident in his voice.

"Spike, status!" Ed called over the comms, fearful of what the report would be.

"Subject's contained; he's cuffed with a through-and-through gunshot wound to the arm." Spike said hurriedly, then added quietly, "Oh shit _."_

"Spike, what's going on?"

"Officer down! Get the medics in here NOW! Sam's been shot!"

At Spike's revelation, the hearts of Team One sank. Sure, Sam wasn't their _favorite_ person, but he was still a member of their team (whether they chose him or not) and no one liked when a teammate was hurt. They picked up their speed and ran faster than any of them had probably ever ran. Turning the corner on the aisle Sam and Spike were on, they came face to face with the horror that was the current situation.

The subject that had been the cause of all of this sat handcuffed up against the shelves of cleaning supplies, the gunshot wound in his upper arm sluggishly bleeding. Sam was deathly pale, lying semi-conscious in a rapidly growing pool of his own blood. Spike was kneeling beside him holding one of the pressure bandages they always carried with them to the gushing gunshot wound on Sam's neck. The knees of Spike's "cool pants" were stained with Sam's blood as the pool of blood around him, unfortunately, continued to grow.

The other members of Team One sprang into action. Ed immediately radioed in for Greg to call for the EMS on scene and for an additional ambulance to be sent out. Jules ran to Sam and situated herself behind his head. Her hands locked his head and neck in place and her fingers stroked his hair and cheeks, hoping to give him comfort of some kind.

Wordy dropped by Sam's left side and his fingers immediately went to the inside of Sam's wrist. "His pulse is weak."

Ed dropped down in between Wordy and Jules and put his hand on Sam's chest. He could feel Sam's short, frantic breaths and the rapid rise and fall of his chest. Ed leaned over and looked Sam in the face. "Sam, look at me. Don't try to talk, just look at me." Ed waited for Sam's eyes to find his and when they did, Ed felt his heart break at the fear he saw in them. Fear was an emotion he had never associated with the sniper. "You're going to be OK." Ed told him, trying to soothe the fear and tension he saw and felt in Sam's body. _Please be OK,_ Ed thought to himself. He could see that it was bad, everyone could, and he knew that Sam knew it was bad, but Ed needed to remain positive and hopeful. Sam _needed_ him to stay positive and hopeful.

Sam fought hard to stay awake, but he was too weak from the blood loss and he lost his battle with consciousness just as the first set of paramedics arrived.

They immediately began working to treat and stabilize Sam seeing that he was, without a doubt, the most critical of the two injured victims.

The paramedics made everyone move away from Sam except Spike, who was continuing to apply pressure to the still bleeding wound on Sam's neck. After the paramedics check all of Sam's vitals and get him started on an IV, they tell Spike to move away and they replace his pressure bandage with a new one of their own.

Spike rocked back on his heels and watched helplessly as the paramedics worked to save the man who had become one of his best friends.

The paramedics tried to keep their faces calm and blank, as to not worry the group of concerned SRU members watching their every move, but their quick, hasty movements showed the true severity of the situation. The two paramedics, Mitch and Justin, along with Ed, Wordy and Spike all gently and carefully moved Sam onto the stretcher.

Strapping him down and securing him to the stretcher, Mitch and Justin rushed Sam out of the warehouse and into the waiting ambulance. Lights flashing and sirens blaring, the ambulance peeled out of the parking lot and sped off towards the hospital.

The despondent members of Team One had followed Sam out to the ambulance but, due to the severity of Sam's condition, none of them were allowed to ride with him. They watched as the ambulance carrying their critically injured teammate and friend off to the hospital.

 _Stay with us Sam, you need to fight. Maddie needs you._

Casting one final glance back into the warehouse and the large pool of Sam's blood on the floor, Ed, Wordy, Spike, Lou and Jules left the store and met a somber-looking Greg in the parking lot. Everyone piled into the SUVs and headed off to the hospital, leaving the unis in charge of the scene. There was somewhere more important they needed to be.

...

Four long hours after arriving at the hospital and Team One had still not heard anything about Sam, other than he was in surgery. Over the past four hours, each member of Team One had left the hospital and returned in their civilian clothes and with either food or coffee for the waiting group. So far, everyone had returned except for Spike.

While they waited for an update, each member of Team One found themselves thinking about their injured teammate.

When they had first arrived at the hospital, a nurse in the ER gave them paperwork to fill out for Sam. The only thing they could fill out was his name. It wasn't until Spike walked in, being the last to make it in from the trucks, that they were able to fill out the rest of the paperwork.

To say that the members of Team One were shocked when Spike took the paperwork and quickly filled out all the missing information was an understatement.

"How do you know Sam's birthday? Or any of that other information about him?" Wordy asked, clearly confused as to why their Tech guy seemed to know a lot about the sniper.

"Why don't YOU guys know his birthday? He's been on the team for months now!" Spike asked, angered.

"He never said anything!" Jules exclaimed. "You know he's not forthcoming with any information."

"Have you ever asked?!" Spike fumed. "No, you haven't. No one on this team has tried to learn anything about Sam, everyone treats him like he Scorpioed Rollie to get a spot on the team!"

Spike stopped talking before he said something he shouldn't. He took the paperwork back up to the nurses station and took a seat in one of the chairs against the wall.

The other members of Team One, shocked by Spike's outburst, followed silently. _Was Spike right?_

...

Spike was right, they'd decided and now they waited in a private waiting room on the surgical floor and prayed they get the chance to make things right with Sam.

The door to the waiting room and, since a nurse had just left (after telling them it'd be at least a few more hours), they knew it was Spike returning. They looked up at him, ready to tell him that he was right, but their words stopped dead on their lips.

Spike was at the door alright, but what shocked them into silence was the adorable little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes that he carried on his hip.

A little girl that looked just like the teammate they were desperately waiting to hear about.

* * *

 **To be continued!**

 **I hope y'all enjoyed! Thanks again for being SO patient!  
This is the longest chapter so far, so I hope it kinda made up for my absence?**

 **Let me know what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ugh, it's been a long time since I've uploaded. I know, I'm sorry, please don't hate me.**

 **I had a busy last two weeks at work, then I went out of state to visit family I haven't seen in (at least) 5 years and I've spent the past three days moving into my apartment.**

 **School's starting again VERY soon, sooner than I'd like, like tomorrow, and I can't promise I'll be able to update as often as I'd like, but I WILL NOT abandon this story and I WILL update whenever I can. Pinky promise!**

 **That being said, please enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Six: Maddie Meets Team One**

The room was silent; everyone sat still, shocked, and tried to wrap their minds around what they were seeing.

Finally, Wordy stood up. "Spike, what's going on? Who is that?"

Spike took a deep breath. _I hope you'll understand, Sam. "_ Guys, this is Maddie, Sam's daughter."

Everyone's mouths dropped and, if the situation at hand was not so serious, Spike would've laughed at his team's cartoon-like reaction.

...

 _Thirty_ _minutes earlier_

 _It was dark by the time Spike pulled into the parking lot and put the car into park. He had questioned this decision ever since he arrived back at the SRU from the hospital and caught sight of Sam's locker as he was changing._

 _Touching the locker handle, and finding it unlocked, Spike opened the door. Seeing countless pictures of Maddie posted all over the locker door, Spike knew what he had to do._

 _Grabbing Sam's keys off the shelf, Spike closed Sam's locker and returned to his own and getting changed._

 _Spike climbed out of the car and walked through the doors of the day care. Walking up to the counter, Spike pulled out his ID and SRU credentials. "Hi. I'm Constable Michelangelo Scarlatti, but you can call me Spike. I work with the SRU."_

 _The woman behind the counter, Sarah as her nametag read, looked at Spike curiously. "SRU? Do you work with Sam Braddock?"_

 _"Yes ma'am; he's my teammate...and a good friend. He's actually the reason I'm here."_

 _"Really?" Sarah asked, confused. Then, the sad realization hit her. "Oh god, was he the SRU officer injured today?! It's been all over the news!"_

 _Spike gave her a sad nod. "I'm afraid so. I'm here, hoping I can pick up Maddie and take her to the hospital to see her dad. Her aunt and grandparents are currently out of the country, so I'll be staying with her at Sam's place until Sam's able to take care of her or until someone in her family can get here."_

 _Sarah nodded, following Spike's plan for Maddie, until something he said earlier finally clicked. "Wait, you said to call you 'Spike' right?" At Spike's nod, Sarah continued. "Am I right to assume that you're the 'Unca Spike' Maddie's been talking about almost non-stop recently?"_

 _Spike chuckled and smiled; man he loved that kid. "Yeah, that's me."_

 _Sarah smiled a small smile. "Well, it's nice to finally put a face to the name although I do wish it was on better terms. Let me take you to Maddie."_

 _Sarah got out from behind the counter and led the way down the hall to the room Maddie was in._

 _When the door opened, and Maddie saw who was waiting there with Ms. Sarah, the excitement on her face was unmistakable. "Unca Spike!"_

 _Maddie got up from the carpet and ran as fast as her little two-year-old legs could carry her to Spike._

 _Spike bent down and caught her with open, waiting arms, pulling her into a big hug._

 _When Maddie pulled away, she looked up at Spike with an innocent curiosity only a child could possess. "Where's daddy?"_

 _Spike sighed and shared a quick glance with both Sarah and Jenna (who had come over to see who the man was that was picking Maddie up) before looking at Maddie again._

 _"Maddie, do you know what your daddy does for a job?"_

 _Maddie nodded enthusiastically and obviously proud. "Daddy a powees officer. He works wiff da SRU."_

 _Spike smiled, it was hard not too when Maddie adorably mispronounced words. "That's right, your daddy works with the SRU. Do you know what police officers and the members of the SRU do?"_

 _"Pwotect da city."_

 _"Right, we protect the city. Unfortunately, it's a dangerous job and sometimes police and SRU officers get hurt trying to protect the city and the people in it. That's what happened to your dad." Spike said, trying to break the news gently and in a way that the little girl in front of him would understand._

 _"Daddy hurt?" Maddie asked and Spike hated the sadness he heard in her voice._

 _Spike stood up from his crouched position and immediately picked Maddie up and held her close in his arms. "Yeah munchkin, your daddy's hurt but don't worry. Your daddy's one of the strongest men I know and he loves you so, SO much; there's no way he's going to leave you. OK?"_

 _Maddie nodded against Spike's shoulder, tears still welling up in her eyes. Spike rubbed her back. "What do you say we get out of here and go to the hospital to wait for news on your daddy, huh?"_

 _Maddie nodded again. Jenna handed Spike Maddie's backpack. Spike thanked her and Sarah both for their help._

 _"Please let us know how Sam is." Jenna requested._

 _"Absolutely."_

 _Spike said goodbye to Sarah and Jenna and carried Maddie out to the car. He strapped her into her car seat, climbed in himself and headed towards the hospital._

 _The entire ride to the hospital was spent in silence and Spike hated that he had to be the one to tell Maddie about Sam being hurt. In the end, he knew it had to be done, but there was no way he EVER wanted to have that conversation with her (or anyone else) again._

 _Arriving at the hospital, Spike unbuckled Maddie from her car seat, grabbed her backpack and carried her inside to the private waiting room where the other members of Team One were waiting for news on Sam. Stopping outside the door, Spike questioned what he was about to do but knew there was no other way. He just hoped Sam would forgive him._

 _..._

"Sam's…. Sam's daughter?" Ed asked, extremely skeptically. "Sam Braddock?"

Spike rolled his eyes and walked over to one of the empty chairs. Sitting Maddie in it, Spike pulled out his tablet and opened up a website that had lots of games for kids Maddie's age to play.

After making sure Maddie was situated, Spike walked over to the team and brought them into the far corner of the private waiting room. The confusion on their faces couldn't be missed and Spike prepared himself for the onslaught of questions he was sure he was about to receive.

"What the hell is going on?!" Ed asked in a hushed whisper. For that Spike was thankful; Maddie had been through enough tonight without having to hear all of this. "Since when does Sam have a kid?"

"Well, Maddie's two so I'm going to say at least two years." Spike said with a little snark. He wasn't quite ready to let his team off scotch-free from their behavior towards Sam.

"No, really?" Jules asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm sure what Ed meant was why didn't Sam tell us he had a daughter?"

"Seriously? You guys couldn't even be bothered enough to find out Sam's birthday, or any other personal facts about him, yet you expect him to just up and tell you that he has a daughter? Really?" Spike asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Look, Spike," Wordy began, his hands up in a placating gesture. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we have been unfair to Sam, _really_ unfair, since he joined the team; we realize that now. Our behavior hasn't warranted him trusting us, understandably, but _this,"_ Wordy said, nodding his head towards Maddie, "is something he should have mentioned."

"I agree with Wordy," Greg said. "This is something Sam should have told us."

"Like you told us about your son?" Spike asked with a straight face and raised eyebrows.

Before anything else could be said, the group was interrupted by Maddie walking over and tugging on Spike's pant leg. When Spike looked down at her, Maddie held up a small bag of Goldfish she got from her backpack. "Open pwease."

Spike smiled at her. He grabbed the Goldfish, opened the baggie and handed it back to her.

Maddie gave him a small smile and a "tank you" before returning to her seat.

Everyone smiled at her cuteness and surprisingly good manners for a two year old.

"Sam's doing a really good job with her." Ed said truthfully.

"Yeah, he is." Spike couldn't help but agree.

"Is there anyone helping him?" Wordy asked. "Anyone else in the picture we should know about?"

Spike shook his head. "Sam said Maddie's mom left right after he got back from Kandahar...its just been him and Maddie ever since."

If the other members of Team One were feeling bad about misjudging Sam before, this new information only made them feel worse. Sam always put on a cocky, unbothered front and they let that get the best of them; they took Sam at face value and never bothered to learn more about the man beneath the hard, ex-Special Forces mask and the struggles and challenges he had encountered in his life.

"How do you know so much about Sam and Maddie?" Lou asked curiously.

"I saw them in the park a few weekends ago when I stopped by my nephew's birthday party." Spike said, glancing at Maddie and then back to his teammates. "He didn't tell me everything, but he did tell me a good amount. I don't know why Sam decided to tell me all of this, but I'm glad he did; Sam needs someone on his side in this world."

"Well you won't be the only one on Sam's side from now on," Ed vowed. "We were wrong about Sam, and we never gave him the opportunity to prove us wrong. We realize that now, and as much as it sucks that it took Sam being shot to make us realize all of this, we're more than ready to make it right."

"Good," Spike said with a hint of finality. "Because Sam deserves at least that much."

With that, Spike left his teammates and walked over to Maddie, taking a seat beside her and watching her play on his tablet over her shoulder.

The rest of Team One followed suit and sat back down in their chairs, settling in to continue waiting for news on Sam.

...

The wait wasn't long. Thirty minutes after they all sat back down, the door to their private waiting room opened and a tired looking surgeon walked in.

Everyone anxiously stood up, hoping that whatever news the surgeon had was good news. Spike held Maddie, who had just fallen asleep in his lap, in his arms as the change in position slowly woke her up. _Please be OK Sam. Maddie already lost her mom...she can't lose her dad too._

"Family of Sam Braddock?"

* * *

 **I hope y'all enjoyed!**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

 **P.S. As far as SAMTASTIC is concerned, it's still an active story, it's just become a dumping ground of sorts; a place where I upload one-shots when inspiration for this story is non-existent OR when my muse gets the best of me. This story is where all of my attention is at this point, well this and school. Hope y'all understand! (:**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's the next update!**

 **Ready to find out how Sam's doing?**

* * *

 **Chapter Seven: The Aftermath**

"I'm Dr. Ramirez," the surgeon said, introducing himself. "I operated on your teammate."

The members of Team One stared at the surgeon, wanting nothing more than for him to get to the point and tell them how Sam was.

Maddie stirred in Spike's arms and looked at the surgeon.

Dr. Ramirez obviously noticed the resemblance as he took in the toddler in Spike's arms. "Is this his daughter?" he asked with a smile.

Spike nodded. "This is Maddie. Maddie, can you say hi to Dr. Ramirez? He's the doctor that was helping your daddy."

Maddie looked at the man for a moment, then started squirming to be let down. Spike sat her down on the floor and Maddie walked over to Dr. Ramirez. "Is my daddy gonna be OK?"

Dr. Ramirez smiled at the innocent toddler and bent down to look her in the eyes. "Yeah, sweetie, your daddy's going just fine."

Maddie smiled at Dr. Ramirez and he patted her head before standing up and looking at the group of SRU officers. "Sam's going to be fine. The bullet that entered his neck tore through several capillaries and just barely nicked the carotid artery. We were able to go in and repair all the damage and, while there was a good amount of blood loss, the blood transfusions Sam received and is continuing to receive should help his stats and replace the blood he lost. I'm very certain that a full recovery is in his future."

The relief in the room was palpable. Relieved smiles covered the faces of all of Team One. Dr. Ramirez saw the smiles and practically felt the relief flowing off of them and he hated having to burst their bubbles, but they needed to know all of the facts. "Please keep in mind that, although Sam will make a full recovery, this injury is still serious. If the bullet entered just a few millimeters over we'd be having a very different conversation right now."

That thought sobered everyone; they knew they had been close to losing Sam, but a few millimeters was _too_ close.

Spike bent down and picked up Maddie, who had wandered back over to him while Dr. Ramirez was talking, and held her close. "Can we see him?"

"Yes, but please, only for a few minutes and just two or three of you in the room at a time." Dr. Ramirez answered. When he saw the members of Team One nod, he continued. "I'll have a nurse come and get you when Sam's settled in his room."

"Thank you doctor." Greg said as he stepped forward and shook the surgeon's hand. Dr. Ramirez shook Greg's hand then turn and left the room. Once Dr. Ramirez was gone, Greg turned around to face his team. "Alright team, partner up. Spike, you and Maddie can go first since I'm sure it's way past her bedtime. The rest of us will go afterwards."

"Actually Sarge, I think we'll go last. You guys can go first."

Greg studied Spike for a moment before nodding his agreement. When the nurse came to get them a few minutes later, Wordy, Jules and Lou were the first group to go. When they returned, Greg and Ed took their turn visiting Sam.

...

When it finally time for Spike and Maddie to visit, Spike walked Maddie down the hall, holding one of her small hands in his much bigger one. As they approached Sam's room, Spike peaked in through the window. He saw several wires and tubes connecting Sam to the various machines that surrounded his bed and the bright white bandage that covered the majority of Sam's neck. Sam himself looked pale, a side effect from the blood loss, but mostly normal thankfully.

Before opening the door, Spike squats down to talk to Maddie. "OK Mads, do you remember how I said your daddy got hurt?"

Maddie nodded. "But he gonna be otay."

Spike smiled at her and nodded back. "He is gonna be OK, but when we go in there to see him, you're going to see a bunch of wires and tubes. It's going to look really scary, but it's all to help him get better, OK?"

Maddie nodded and Spike stood back up. He watched as Maddie schooled her features, transforming her from a scared little girl to a tough, courageous one. _God, she is so much like Sam._

Spike grabbed her hand, opened the door, and led Maddie inside Sam's room. The room was silent, the only sounds were from the machines surrounding Sam. Both Spike and Maddie stood in the room, just staring at Sam, for a few minutes before Maddie started walking forward. Hand still linked with Spike's, she pulled him forward towards the bed.

Maddie walked up to the side of Sam's bed. She tried to touch his hand and see his face, but she was too short for her efforts to be productive. Turning away from the bed, Maddie walked back over to Spike and held her arms up. "Up pwease."

Spike immediately complied and Maddie was back in his arms. He walked over to the bed so they were both closer to Sam. Carefully moving some of the wires surrounding Sam, Spike gently sat Maddie down on the edge of the hospital bed, allowing her to be close to her dad.

Maddie reached out and gently placed her small hand ontop of her dad's much larger one. She looked every bit her age- so small and unsure, nothing like the happy, energetic spit-fire she normally was. Seeing her struggle, Spike placed a hand on her back. "You know what Maddie? I bet your daddy can still hear you. Why don't you talk to him?"

Maddie nodded and studied Sam for a minute, not quite sure if she believed her Uncle Spike or not. After iooking at Sam again, Maddie decided to just go for it. "Hi daddy," she said quietly. "Unca Spike said you got a owie at work but da doctor says you gonna be OK."

Spike chose this moment to jump in. "That's right buddy; you're going to live up to your nickname and it'll be like nothing even happened."

Before anyone could say anything else, a nurse walked into the room. "I'm sorry, but your time's up." she said remorsefully.

Spike nodded in acknowledgement and lifted Maddie off of the bed. "Time to go kiddo. Say bye-bye to daddy."

"Bye daddy, I wove you." Maddie said. Spike held her over the rail of the bed and she was able to kiss Sam good-bye.

Spike carried Maddie over to the door and sat her down by the nurse. Spike looked at the nurse. "I just need a quick minute alone with him."

The nurse nodded, agreeing to allow the obviously concerned officer in front of her a little more time with her patient.

Spike gave the nurse a small smile as a sign of gratitude then bent down to look Maddie in the eye. "I'm going to go talk to your daddy for a minute. Can you wait with this nice nurse for me?"

Maddie looked up at the nurse, who smiled down at her, then back to Spike and nodded. Spike smiled at her and stroked her hair. "Thatta girl."

Spike stood up and walked back over to Sam's bed. He kept his back to Maddie as he leaned over the rail of the bed. "Don't worry about Maddie, buddy; I've got her, and I'll protect her with my life. You just focus on getting better. Maddie needs you, and so does Team One."

Finished saying what he needed to say, Spike stood back up, grabbed Maddie and headed back down the hallway. They swung by the private waiting room they had been in and grabbed Maddie's little backpack before officially leaving for the night.

...

The drive from the hospital to Sam's apartment had been spent in silence as Maddie had fallen asleep in her car seat and Spike didn't want to wake her up.

Maddie was dead to the world (thankfully) as Spike unbuckled her from her car seat and carried her inside Sam's building. He had the foresight to call not only his parents to let them know he wouldn't be coming home for the night, but the doorman of Sam's building as well, filling him in on the situation.

Entering Sam's apartment, Spike took Maddie straight to her room and laid her down in her bed. She was still sleeping soundly, unphased by the move from the car to her bed.

Leaving her bedroom door slightly cracked, Spike settled on the couch for the night, hoping and praying that tomorrow would be better and would bring good news about Sam.

* * *

 **I hope y'all enjoyed!**

 **If you have any ideas for futrue chapters, or one-shot prompts for SAMTASTIC, let me know! I'd love to hear some of yalls suggestions!**

 **Sorry for any spelling or punctuation mistakes-I'm writing this on my tablet, so no spell check, and typing with a bluetooth keyboard that's a little too slow to keep up with my typing!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry it's been a while! I suck!**

 **But really, life has been hard this past month-physically, emotionally, mentally and scholastically. I'm drowning in a sea of papers, internships, exams and (at times) overwhelming anxiety and depression.**

 **To top it all off, I've been sick for the better half of two months. I've been working on writing for you guys as much as I can, but I hope you guys understand why updates are taking so long.**

 **Nonetheless, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Eight: Out in the Open**

Spike yawned widely as he walked out of Anytime Child Care. It had been a long night; Maddie had woken up twice during the night due to nightmares and, although she calmed almost immediately, it took Spike a while to wind back down after. Wanting to spare her of having to relive the entire thing over again, Spike waited until Maddie was outside playing with the other kids before updating Sarah and Jenna on Sam's condition and how Maddie was handling everything.

They extended their sympathies and promised to call him if Maddie needed him. Spike thanked them before saying bye to Maddie one last time and heading out.

As Spike climbed into the car, he found himself extremely thankful Team One had the day off. Had they had to work, Spike probably would've called in. _How does Sam do this every day?_

Spike smiled sadly at the thought of his friend. AFter the second time Maddie woke up from a nightmare Spike was unable to fall back asleep, so he used his trusty tablet to Google Sam's injury and the recovery time/process that accompanied it. It looked like it'd be a long, tedious process...for a normal person. Spike was secretly hoping Sam would use his "super secret Special Forces super solider healing powers" as Spike liked to call them (behind Sam's back of course) and heal up quickly, but only time would tell.

Driving to the hospital, Spike's thoughts stayed on his friend and the hope that he would wake up today.

...

Four hours, that's how long Spike waited before Sam started showing signs of waking up. At first it was nothing more than sporadic finger twitches but then Sam's eyelids fluttered and his breathing changed and Spike was up, out of his chair and by Sam's bedside.

With baited breath, Spike waited until Sam's eyes were fully open (and stayed open) before breaking out into a big smile. He pressed the call button to alert the nurses that Sam was awake and turned his full attention to his friend in the bed. "Hey Samtastic! Welcome back to the land of the living!"

Sam blinked a few times, helping his eyes adjust to the brightness of the room. Turning his head slightly, neck protesting even with the slightest movement, Sam spotted Spike by the side of his bed, a big, goofy grin on his face. "Land of the living but I feel like Frankenstein."

Spike chuckled. "Well you kind of look like him with all that gauze on your neck."

Sam gave a short laugh at his friend's sassy comeback and carefully adjusted his position on the bed. "So what's the damage?"

"The bullet tore through some capillaries, there was a small knick to your carotid, and you lost a lot of blood. Your doctor can give you the full details but you're going to be fine."

"Good to know," Sam said with a small smile. He was silent for a few moments before his facial expression turned serious and he looked back at Spike. "How's Maddie?! Where is she?!"

Sam started pushing himself up in bed, as if he was in any shape to be up and walking around. Spike immediately placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down. "Whoa Sam, relax! Maddie is fine! She's at daycare."

Sam let out a deep, relieved breath and sank back down against the pillows. "Does she know?"

Spike nodded. "She doesn't know all of the details, but she knows you got hurt."

Sam nodded and seemed to relax even further. Spike thought about what he was about to tell him and hoped he wouldn't be too mad. "Listen Sam, about Maddie—"

Before Spike could continue, Dr. Ramirez and a couple of nurses entered the room. "Ah Sam, it's good to see you awake. I'm Dr. Ramirez; I'm the one who operated on you last night."

Sam nodded in acknowledgement and Dr. Ramirez turned to face Spike. "If you would, please step out for a moment while I examine Sam."

Spike nodded and patted Sam's leg before stepping out into the hallway. He took a minute to text the team and let them all know that Sam was awake but asked them to hold off on visiting for a little bit while the two of them talked.

It was another ten minutes before Dr. Ramirez and the nurses left and Spike was allowed to go back into the room.

The head of the bed had been raised up so Sam could sit up a bit more and most, if not all, of the wires and monitors had been removed.

Spike had barely made it five steps into the room before Sam hopped back on to the last thing he said. "What about Maddie, Spike? Is she OK?"

Spike held his hands up in a placating gesture and made his way back over to his chair. Once he was seated he answered Sam. "Maddie is fine Sam. I do have to tell you something regarding Maddie though, and I hope you'll understand."

"What is it?"

"The team knows about Maddie. They met her last night."

Sam was silent. Spike didn't even look at his face, he just kept talking. "I know you were keeping her a secret for a reason, but I couldn't just _not_ bring her up here to see you. At first though, I didn't want to bring her up here; I didn't think the team deserved to meet her. I mean, yeah they followed the ambulance from the scene, but they didn't even know enough about you to fill out your freaking registration forms! Yes, I know, you're not the most forthcoming person when it comes to personal information, but they didn't even know your birthday! You've been a part of Team One for months now and they still don't know _ANYTHING_ about you and they haven't even tried to fix that."

"I yelled at them, right there in the ER waiting room. I grabbed the papers out of their hands, filled 'em out, and sat down to wait. I couldn't even talk to them I was so mad."

"When we got moved to a private waiting room, everyone took turns leaving to change clothes or get food. I went last because of Maddie. I changed clothes, so the blood on my uniform wouldn't freak her out, then I went to her daycare and picked her up."

"You have an amazing kid, ya know? She's so smart and she was incredibly brave about coming here, seeing you, and meeting a bunch of people she didn't know. She's also incredibly charming, a trait she no doubt inherited from you." Spike added with a smile. Glancing up at Sam, there was an expression Spike couldn't place, but he hoped it wasn't anger.

"I'm almost 100% positive that she had everyone wrapped around her little fingers within the first hour they knew her…"

Sam's chuckle stopped Spike's ramble and Spike looked at him to find a small smile replacing the nameless look that was previously on his face. The smile slowly faded as Sam turned to look at Spike. "How'd the team handle it?"

Spike sighed. "They were upset at first, that you didn't tell them about Maddie right off the bat, but then I yelled at them again and said some stuff that, under different circumstances, probably would've gotten me some serious reprimands but I think they were just shocked more than angry..."

Seeing Sam's far-off expression, Spike sighed and continued speaking. "Look Sam, I am in no way excusing the team's actions of the past, but I truly believe they've seen the error of their ways and things will be different now. I'm not asking you to forgive them or completely open up to them right away, but I am asking you to try and let them make amends."

Sam stared off into space for a while before nodding at Spike's statement. "OK, you're right."

Spike smiled and leaned back in his chair, relieved that Sam wasn't mad at him.

Sam relaxed a little too, before looking back over to Spike. "So what happened to Maddie after she met the team? PLEASE don't tell me she slept here all night..."

"No, she didn't," Spike said, propping his feet up on the edge of Sam's bed. "The nurse said it'd be OK for her to come see you, so I explained everything to her and she came right in to see you. After that I took her back to your place; I figured she'd had enough for one night and it'd be best for her to be somewhere familiar. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow and I crashed on the couch... I didn't know how long it would take for you to wake up today so I went ahead and dropped her off at daycare this morning before coming up here."

"Thank you, Spike." Sam said, the sincerity thick in his voice. "For taking care of Maddie, sticking up for me, saving my life in that store, being my friend, everything."

SPike smiled and leaned forward, squeezing Sam's leg in acknowledgement.

Before either of them could say anything else there was a knock at the door. Sam looked at Spike with an eyebrow raised. Spike looked at him sheepishly. "I think the team is here..."

* * *

 **I hope you all enjoyed!**

 **Fingers crossed that the next chapter will be up sooner than this one was!  
(No promises though because...life)**


	9. Chapter 9

**It's been a long time guys, a really long time. I'm sorry.**

 **Between school, my internship and life in general, finding time to write has been really hard. I just need y'all to hang in there with me until December because once I go on winter break, I'll have a lot more free time to devote to writing!**

 **Also, I don't know what it was about this chapter but I was having a really hard time writing the interaction between Sam and the team. This is what I ended up with after deleting everything three times so I hope it's OK.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Nine: Team Building**

Sam looked over at Spike. "You told the team I was awake?"

Spike rubber the back of his neck nervously. "Yeahh… Sarge asked me to keep everyone updated, so I texted them when the doctor was checking you out. I didn't know they would show up here though! I swear!"

Sam sighed. He knew he'd have to talk to the team eventually, he just didn't exactly plan on it happening so soon. "Relax Spike, it's fine."

Before Spike could reply, the door to Sam's room opened and revealed the remaining members of Team One. One by one, they all filed inside and surrounded Sam's bed.

An awkward silence filled the air as everyone tried to figure out what to say.

Greg, being Team One's Sergeant, decided to speak first and break the ice. "Sam, good to see you awake. How are you feeling?"

"I'm OK," Sam said. At the raised eyebrows of his teammates, Sam rolled his eyes and continued speaking. "Or I will be."

Everyone nodded, satisfied with Sam's answer.

Ed took a deep breath and started speaking, saying the things that were long past due. "Look Sam, we need to talk. We were wrong, horribly wrong, about you, and I'm sorry it took us all so long to realize it."

Wordy jumped in as soon as Ed finished. "We let the way you joined the team cloud our judgement of you instead of focusing on the obvious skills you had that made you a perfect fit for Team One. We misjudged you we're so, SO sorry."

Greg piggybacked off Wordy. "You're a great asset to this team Sam and, after meeting that adorable daughter of yours, it's obvious you're a great man and an even better father."

Sam looked around the room at the mention of Maddie and saw the looks on everyone's faces. He sighed. "Look guys, I know I probably should've told someone about Maddie but…"

"No Sam, we get it." Jules said, interrupting Sam's explanation. "With the way we've been acting towards you since you joined, I don't think I would've trusted us enough to tell something like that either."

"It's not that I didn't trust you guys, necessarily. It's just… Maddie's been through a lot in her life and lost a lot of people. I just didn't want to introduce her until I was sure—".

"Sam, it's OK, really." Lou added, cutting off Sam's babbling. "We understand."

Sam gave a relieved sigh and sank back down into the pillows on his bed. "Sooo, where does this leave us?"

Spike looked at his teammates. "I think it's time for a re-do; it's time to start acting like the Team One I know we can be."

Greg, Ed, Wordy, Jules and Lou all nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with what Spike said. They all looked at Sam apprehensively when he said nothing.

"Sam?" Spike probed after a few moments of silence from his friend. Sam's response to this entire situation would singlehandedly determine how everything with Team One would play out.

"I think that's a really good idea."

Everyone in the room breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Spike smiled and stood up from the chair he was sitting in. He clapped Sam on the shoulder, causing Sam to look at him. "Why don't I go pick up Maddie? Then, this little Team One team building/get-to-know-each-other party can really start?!"

Everyone chuckled at Spike's obvious excitement.

"Go for it Spike."

Spike smiled even bigger, grabbed his keys and headed out the door. The other members of Team One made themselves comfortable around Sam's hospital room. Small talk filled the room as they waited for Spike to return with Maddie; then, the real rebuilding of Team One could begin.

...

Twenty-five minutes later, the door to Sam's room opened and a tiny blonde bullet flew in. She came to rest next to Sam's bed, the same time Spike made it into the room, out of breath from apparently chasing after the overly-excited toddler through the halls of the hospital.

"Daddy!" Maddie called out as soon as she made it to his bedside.

Sam smiled down at her and Maddie stuck her arms up, wanting him to pick her up. Spike came up behind her and easily lifted her up and sat her on the edge of Sam's bed. Maddie immediately scurried up to Sam and threw her tiny arms around him. Sam winced as one of her arms hit the bandaged incision on his neck, but he ignored the pain and hugged Maddie back just as fiercely. "Hey munchkin. I missed you."

"I missed-ed you too daddy." Maddie said, still hugging Sam. When she broke away from the hug, she pointed to the big bandage on his neck. "Is your owie better?"

Sam smiled at her and pushed some of her unruly curls out of her face. "Oh yeah, much better."

The members of Team One watched the father-daughter reunion with smiles on their faces. Sam and Maddie were just too cute together.

Sam looked up from Maddie and saw his team watching them. He sat Maddie on his lap and turned her around to face the team. "Maddie, this is my team. You already know Spike, but that's Greg, he's the boss." Sam said, pointing at his teammates. "That's Ed and Jules and Wordy and Lou—SRU's Team One."

"What does SRU do Maddie?" Spike asked with a smirk, knowing the answer she was about to give.

"Pwotect da city!"

If the other members of Team One weren't smiling before, they were full-on Cheshire Cat grinning now.

Sam distracted Maddie with games on his phone and snacks from her backpack while the adults all talked.

Team One was broken, but every member was now willing and on board with fixing it.

* * *

 **Sorry this chapter is kinda short.  
** **As I said before, I was having a really hard time writing this chapter.**

 **I hope you enjoyed regardless.**

 **If you have any future chapter suggestions or prompts for a SAMTASTIC chapter, let me know!**


	10. Chapter 10

**OK. High school football season is officially over and regular life can now commence.**

 **For those of you who know anything about high school football in Texas, you know that IT'S A BIG DEAL.**

 **Now I have more time to write! *hopefully***

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Ten: Team Picnic**

After almost a week in the hospital, Sam was finally released. Two weeks later, he had still not been cleared to return to the SRU, even on light duty. He was going stir-crazy. Yes, he absolutely loved getting to spend ample amounts of time with Maddie, but he loved the work he did with the SRU and he was anxious to get back to keeping the peace.

Since their talk in the hospital, the members of Team One had been making an extra effort to get to know Sam. Every day he was in the hospital, at some point, every single member of Team One had stopped by to visit with and check up on him. Spike had continued to take Maddie to and pick her up from daycare every day, providing a sense of normalcy for Maddie that Sam greatly appreciated. Once Sam was released from the hospital, Maddie spent the majority of the day at home with him except for when he had an appointment or therapy. Wordy had extended an offer to have Maddie (and Sam) over to his house to play with his girls, but Sam had kindly put that plan on hold until he was healthier and could properly introduce Maddie to the Wordsworth family.

Today was that day. Sam was feeling good, really good. He was no longer feeling lightheaded and weak from blood loss and his skin had regained its normal tone again. In fact, the only reminder of his near-death experience was the fresh, still pink scar on his neck. It was also the day of the team picnic.

This would be the first Team One team picnic Sam would be going to. It was also the first, and only one, he had been invited to since joining Team One but he tried not to dwell on that. The team realized their mistakes and were making amends. Sam had decided, while lying in his hospital bed, to give them the benefit of the doubt. So far, he wasn't regretting it.

Sam got up off the couch and walked quietly into Maddie's room to see if she had woken up from her nap yet. They would have to leave pretty soon to make it to the picnic in time and if Maddie wasn't awake, that'd cause a whole bunch of problems. Despite Maddie being one of the happiest, sweetest toddler ever, she did NOT do well with being woken up from a nap by someone; she could turn into quite the little monster. Thankfully, Maddie was wide awake and playing with one of her stuffed animals in her bed.

Sam smiled, walked over to her, picked her up and hugged her. "Hey munchkin. Did you sleep good?"

Maddie nodded causing her tousled blonde curls to bounce around.

Sam smiled. "You ready to get changed so we can go see Uncle Spike and the rest of daddy's team?"

Maddie nodded again, excitement making her curls bounce around even more.

Sam smiled and chuckled. _Man, I love this kid._

Sam got Maddie changed and packed her backpack for the day. He then got himself ready and took his medications. With that done, he grabbed Maddie and headed out the door.

...

Pulling into the parking lot of the park Team One was using for the picnic, Sam was a mixture of excited and nervous. This would be the first time Maddie spent a considerate amount of time with every member of Team One, not just Spike, and their families. Wordy and Shelley's daughters would be there, Clark and Izzy would be there and so would Dean. Maddie would be meeting A LOT of new people all at once and, although she was one of the friendliest, most extraverted children Sam had ever met, he was worried she'd be overwhelmed.

However, Sam was also excited to not only have Maddie meet and get to know Team One better, but Sam himself was excited to get to know his teammates better.

Looking through the windshield, Sam saw that he and Maddie were apparently the last two to show up. He had hoped that they would beat most of the team there so Maddie didn't have to meet everyone all at once but sometimes things just don't go as planned.

Sam cut the engine and got out of the car. After unbuckling Maddie from her car seat, Sam sat her down on the ground and handed her her backpack. Locking the car, Sam grabbed Maddie's hand and they took off towards the others.

...

Spike was talking to Lou when he noticed Sam and Maddie walking towards the group. He smiled and started heading towards them, Lou following behind.

Sam saw them approaching and, as soon as he and Maddie were out of the parking lot and close to the team, he let go of Maddie's hand and let her run to Spike.

Spike bent down and immediately caught Maddie in his arms, hugging her tightly and lifting her into his arms. Lou smiled at the sight of his best friend with Sam's daughter. The others at the picnic heard the commotion of Maddie running to Spike and turned to see what was happening. They too smiled at the sight.

Spike moved Maddie onto his hip and continued walking forward to meet up with Sam. While Spike and Sam chatted, the other members of Team One, and their families, gathered around. This wasn't the first time they had seen Sam since he got shot or since he was released from the hospital but this was the first time in weeks he looked _normal_ ; he looked like the Sam they were used to seeing.

"Sam, good to see you," Greg said with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm good, Sarge. Dr. Ramirez is pleased with how I'm healing. Now I'm just waiting for him to clear me for duty." Sam answered.

"I'm glad to hear that."

While Sam and Greg were talking, Spike put a squirming Maddie down on the ground. She immediately went back to Sam., wrapping her arms around one of his legs and successfully stealing the attention of everyone there. Sam looked down at her, smiled and placed a hand on the top of her head.

Sam reintroduced Maddie to his teammates, although she had already met them each in the hospital and individually over the past few weeks. Introducing the family members of his teammates was a different story. There were a lot of them and Maddie started to look very overwhelmed with all the new names and faces.

Those overwhelmed feelings seemed to vanish once Wordy's daughter Allie and Ed's daughter Izzy both came forward and asked Maddie to play. Maddie looked up at Sam for permission and he immediately granted it. Izzy and Allie each took one of Maddie's hands and led her away. The other Wordsworth girls followed behind them and Clark and Dean headed in the same direction, a football in hand.

Sam and the rest of the adults walked over to the tables under the park's pavilion. Ed and Greg were in charge of cooking the burgers, so they went back to the grill while everyone else took a seat at the tables. Sam, Wordy and the moms all had the children in their sight line.

As Sam sat down he noticed that one of the tables held an assortment of makeshift games. He looked at Spike and gestured towards the table. "What's all that?"

"Games!" Spike exclaimed with an excited shout. "You can't have a picnic without games!"

Jules, Lou and Wordy took this relaxed, kid-free time to get to know their teammate. Sophie and Shelley asked questions as well, wanting to learn more about the newest member of Team One, though most of their questions focused on the Maddie aspect of Sam's life. Ed and Greg were within earshot of the tables, so they made comments or asked questions when appropriate.

On the way to the picnic, Sam had prepared himself for a multitude of questions but he was pleasantly surprised that, though there were a lot of questions asked, they were asked in a way that was not overwhelming or annoying.

Sam felt calm, peaceful. He didn't know what to expect from this picnic, but he was glad he ended up coming. He thought about his time on Team One—from his first shift on his first day to where he was now. If you had told him that he'd be having fun and enjoying himself at a team picnic during his first few months with the SRU, he would've laughed in your face. _It's amazing how much can change in just a few months…_

Sam was snapped out of his thoughts by Ed's exclamation of "what the hell?!"

Sam followed his look and saw the kids walking towards them. Wordy's daughters and Izzy all looked uneasy, but what stood out most was the sight of Clark holding Maddie on his hip and Dean walking next to them holding a wad of paper towels against Maddie's forehead.

"What the—?" Spike asked as the kids finally made it to the pavilion area.

"What the hell happened?" Ed asked as he put down his grilling tools and came to stand in front of his son.

"Ed, language." Sophie chastised. She'd normally be more upset about Ed cussing in front of the kids, especially the little ones, but she herself wanted to know what happened.

Sam stood up from his seat at the table and came to stand between Spike and Ed. He looked at Clark. "Clark? What happened?"

"I don't know. Dean and I were throwing the football around and the girls were playing on the playground. Everyone was fine. Suddenly, Izzy's freaking out and running up to me telling me that Maddie fell and was bleeding."

Sam reached forward and took Maddie from Clark's arms. He walked over to the tables and sat Maddie down on the edge. Spike, who had taken the wad of paper towels from Dean, gently moved them away from Maddie's forehead. Everyone winced at the ½ gash just over Maddie's eyebrow.

"Dad, we were 5 feet away from them." Clark said, looking at his father.

"We never saw her fall and we DEFINITELY never heard her scream or cry. I swear." Dean added, almost pleadingly, looking at Greg.

Ed and Greg shared a look before looking back at their sons. "We believe you."

Clark and Dean each took a sigh of relief. They weren't happy about what happened to Maddie, obviously, but they were happy they were not going to be blamed for it happening.

Sophie and Jules left Shelley and the guys to deal with the kids and turned their attention to Sam, Spike and Lou at the tables with Maddie.

Jules began wetting some paper towels for Sam to clean Maddie's face off while Sophie dug around in their stuff for the first aid kit. Finding it, she brought it over to Sam and was thanked with a grateful smile.

Back with the kids, Wordy bent down in front of his kids. "Girls, do you know what happened to Maddie?"

"What Izzy told Clark was the truth, daddy." Lily said, looking at her dad. "We were running around in the rocks on the playground and Maddie slipped. It was right by one of the slides so I think she could've hit the stairs but she got right back up and started running around and laughing again...no tears or anything."

"I don't think she even knew she was bleeding until we got to her and Izzy was freaking out…" Clark added.

Wordy stood back up and looked over to the tables, making eye contact with Sam.

Sam nodded, acknowledging that he heard what Lily and Clark said. He put another temporary butterfly bandage on Maddie's cut. "Maddie, what happened to your head?"

"I got a booboo." She said calmly.

Sam and those around her bit back their smiles. "I see that. How did it happen?"

"I was runnin' and I falled on da gwound."

"Did you hit your head on anything?"

"Ya, da tairs by da slide."

Sam nodded once. "Does your head hurt?"

"Nope!" Maddie announced with a smile.

Sam smiled and pushed some of her crazy curls out of her face. "Good. I'm glad."

Sam stood up from his position at the table in front of Maddie and closed the first aid kit.

"What now?" Spike asked, looking at Sam.

Sam sighed. "I don't know. Aside from the cut, she looks fine and I don't think she has a concussion, so that's good. Her cut's clean, and it doesn't look _that_ deep, so i don't know if she needs stitches but I'm probably going to take her to Urgent Care to get her checked out, just to be safe."

Everyone nodded, understanding Sam's concern.

"Daddy, can I go pway now?" Maddie asked, interrupting any further discussion between the adults.

"Not right now munchkin. You can play later; we're gonna go to the doctor first."

Maddie looked to be considering what Sam said for a moment before a small frown graced her features. "No tank you."

Everyone busted out laughing. That was such a typical Braddock response, there was no denying Maddie's parentage.

"Oh my God, Sam, she is so your kid!" Jules exclaimed through her laughter.

"You're going to have your hands full with her in the future," Lou stated.

"Don't I know it," Sam said with a smile.

Sam reached forward and lifted Maddie off the table and onto his hip. "Sorry kiddo, but you're going to the doctor."

Spike handed Maddie's backpack to Sam and Sam thanked him. "We'll see you guys in a little while."

"Let us know how she is?" Sophie requested, now holding Izzy on her hip.

"Of course," Sam agreed.

With that, the Braddock duo headed to Urgent Care.

...

One and a half hours and 4 stitches later, Sam and Maddie were back at the park and enjoying the last of the team picnic.

The picnic hadn't gone quite as expected, but everything worked out in the end. Maddie would be perfectly fine and the members of Team One had a stronger bond. There was still progress to be made with everyone's relationships, but the groundwork had been laid and all they needed now was just time.

* * *

 ***I know that Ed's daughter Izzy wasn't a part of the show when Sam joined Team One, but for the sake of this story, I'm making her a few years older than Maddie.***

 **I'm not overly fond of how this chapter ended, but I couldn't think of anything better so I just left it. I hope you guys enjoy it regardless.**

 **I'm going to TRY to get a special Christmas-themed post for SAMTASTIC up within the next few days but I haven't even started yet so that might not happen.**

 **If you don't see an update from me before then...  
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!**

 **If you have any prompts for this story or SAMTASTIC, be sure to let me know. (:**


	11. Chapter 11

**I had this mostly written as an update for SAMTASTIC, but I wanted to update this story first. Besides, I have another idea for SAMTASTIC.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven: An Unwelcome Return - Part One**

Team One was not having a good day, especially Sam. It was his first day back on full duty since getting shot and they had had back to back hot calls since the moment their shift started. While the majority of them ended peacefully, there were three that ended with Scorpio. Sam had been the unlucky Sierra One forced to take two of those shots.

His meetings with SIU were disastrous, to put it nicely. Both shots on both calls were justified uses of lethal force, there was no denying that; Sarge and the others had tried anything and everything possible to try and save the subject and when they couldn't, and the subject escalated, Sam took the shot. However, Sam always seemed to get stuck with investigators who seemed to hate him. Greg eventually had to get Commander Holleran to make a phone call to the head of SIU because Sam had been stuck in SIU's interrogation room for over 2 hours.

Once he was free from SIU, Sam made it back to the Barn just long enough to hear Winnie announce a hot call for Team One down by the docks. Groaning, he ran to catch up with his team at the gun cage.

That call ended with Sam being thrown into a stack of shipping crates by a behemoth of a man before Spike and Ed were able to tackle and cuff him. An hour and a half, and one argument about an emergency room visit for a concussion check later, Sam and the rest of Team One walked into the Barn for debrief.

Greg, Ed and Wordy were the first ones in. They muttered a quick "hello" to Winnie then continued walking towards the briefing room, completely missing the beautiful brunette woman standing at Winnie's desk.

Sam was the next person in and, concussion or not, he most definitely did not miss the woman waiting at Winnie's desk. He suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Spike, Lou and Jules, who were coming in behind Sam, were caught off guard by Sam's abrupt stop and ended up running right into Sam's back. Had the entire situation not been so confusing, it would have been hysterical.

"Sam, you OK?" Jules asked, recovering from her little run-in. She walked around to stand in front of Sam.

When Sam didn't respond to Jules right away, Spike tried to get his attention. "Sam?"

Spike's and Jules' unanswered questions caught the attention of Greg, Ed and Wordy. Their eyes fell on their silent teammate. Seeing that Sam's attention was clearly occupied elsewhere, all six members of Team One followed Sam's line of sight to the woman waiting at Winnie's desk.

"Sam? Do you know-" before Ed could finish asking his question, Sam broke out of his trance and walked over to Winnie's desk. His teammates followed, suspecting something was up between their teammate and this mystery woman.

The woman in question watched as Sam approached her. "Sam."

"Why are you here?" Sam asked, forgoing all greetings and pleasantries.

"I was in town and I wanted to see you...and Maddie." The woman said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"How did you even know where we were?"

"The General told me," she replied with a smug smile.

Sam rolled his eyes. Of course his father would be no help in a situation like this. He shook his head at the woman. "No, no, no. I don't care about that, though the General and I will be having a conversation about this later. What I meant was _WHY_ are you here? Why now?"

"I told you Sam. I'm here to see you and Maddie; It's been a while since I've seen you two..."

"It's been over a year." Sam said, harshly, as he mimicked the woman's pose and crossed his arms tightly over his chest. "But who's fault is that?"

Everyone in the room could feel the tension in the room rising. Greg stepped in, knowing he needed to do something to keep Sam and whoever this woman was level-headed. "OK, everyone needs to relax. Sam, care to introduce us?"

Sam sighed and looked at his teammates. "Guys, this is Audrey Miller. Audrey, this is Greg, Ed, Wordy, Spike, Lou and Jules—SRU's Team One."

Audrey didn't smile; she didn't even wave, she just stared at the group of people in front of her. The members of Team One looked between Sam and Audrey in confusion.

Spike finally broke the silence by asking the question that was on everyone's mind. "Audrey? As in Maddie's-"

"Yep." Sam answered, popping the 'p' for emphasis. "This is Maddie's mom."

Surprise and shock covered the faces of Team One, followed quickly by concern; they hadn't heard the full story of what happened between Sam and Audrey, but they did know that Audrey walked out on Sam and Maddie and never looked back. This was the last thing Sam needed today.

* * *

 **It's a shorter chapter, but it's been a long while since I've updated so this is kinda my way of easing back into this writing thing.**

 **It's my final semester of college and I'm way busier than I thought I'd be.**

 **I can't promise more frequent updates, but I will promise to try and not go this long between updates again.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys! Thanks for all of the reviews and suggestions this story has received so far! They're all so appreciated!**

 **Many of you guys have asked and wondered about Sam and Jules getting together and Jules becoming Maddie's new mom. Well, I won't spoil how everything will play out but just know that we will get there EVENTUALLY! It's going to be a slow build up.**

 **That being said, if you have any ideas or suggestions for future chapters or how I could build up to Sam and Jules, then please let me know!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve: An Unwelcome Return - Part Two**

"Well?" Audrey asked, crossing her arms over her chest again.

"Well what?" Sam asked her, an annoyed look on his face.

Audrey rolled her eyes. "Where's Maddie? I want to see her."

"No."

Audrey raised her eyebrows in confusion and disbelief. "Excuse me?"

Sam crossed his arms over his chest. "I said no. I understand that's a word you don't hear very often, so let me say it again. No."

"She's my daughter! You can't just keep her from me!"

"I can and I will," Sam said protectively. "You left, Audrey. You signed away your rights and walked away. Now, why don't you do everyone a favor and leave, before you cause anymore drama than you already have."

Audrey stared at him, dumbfounded; no one had ever spoken to her like that, especially Sam.

Sam didn't wait for Audrey to leave. He walked away, avoiding the watchful eyes of his teammates, and headed straight for the locker room.

The other members of Team One looked on, not know what to do or how to feel. Greg, Ed, Wordy and Lou were obviously concerned for their teammate and friend, knowing that this was definitely not what Sam needed after a day like he had but they were also conflicted, not knowing much of anything regarding Sam and Audrey's past.

Spike, on the other hand, knew more about Sam and Audrey's fallout than anyone. He was fuming at the gall the woman in front of him had. With one final death glare at Audrey, Spike left the group and followed after Sam to the locker room.

Jules was surprised by the feelings the woman in front of her evoked in her. There was anger and annoyance, those she understood. The woman in front of her was obviously a pain in the butt and a thorn in Sam's side. The feeling Jules didn't quite get was the sneaking feeling of jealousy. _Jealousy? Where did that come from?_

Yes, Audrey was undeniably gorgeous, but it was something different than that—something deeper. _When did this happen?_

Audrey stared at Sam's (and Spike's) retreating back before scoffing and rolling her eyes. "When he stops acting like stubborn teenager, tell him I'll talk to him later. This conversation is not over."

Audrey stormed out of the Barn, pulling her phone out of her purse as she did.

The members of Team One, and Winnie, stared after her as she left. Many of them were still confused over the entire exchange between their rookie teammate and his ex.

Moments after Audrey left, Spike and Sam came out of the locker room, the latter with his phone up to his ear. Sam walked right past his teammates and out the door towards the parking lot. Spike joined his teammates as they called out to Sam.

Jules was the first. "Sam?"

"Where are you going Braddock?" Ed chimed in.

When Sam did not respond to either of them, they turned to look at Spike. Ed raised an eyebrow, encouraging him to start talking.

"He's on the phone with Maddie's daycare." Spike started. "He's on his way to pick her up. He talked to Holleran and he gave Sam the OK to bring her back here since we only have about an hour left of shift."

"Why is he picking her up?" Lou asked, confused. "Audrey doesn't know where Maddie goes to daycare at, right?"

"Audrey doesn't know, but Sam's parents do." Spike said, crossing his arms over his chest. "The General told Audrey where Sam worked and that they moved to Toronto…I'm sure he'd have no problem telling her where Maddie went to daycare. Sam told me the General could never tell Audrey no."

"Doesn't Maddie's daycare have really good security? Audrey couldn't get in there to see Maddie even if she wanted to, right?" Wordy asked, ever the concerned father.

"It does, but Audrey can still go and cause a scene. Sam's going to go talk to them about the situation and pick up Maddie."

"Well, let's hope this last hour goes by without any calls," Greg said, glancing from the door Sam just left through back to the remaining members of his team.

"You won't," Winnie piped in from behind her desk. "Holleran just told me to give all remaining calls to Team Three."

Team One nodded, relieved that they'd finally get a break.

The members of Team One headed into the briefing room and sat around the table. While they waited for Sam to return for the full debrief, they discussed the calls that didn't have Sam as Sierra One.

...

Thirty minutes later, Team One's briefing was interrupted by the sound of a joyful giggle outside the conference room. The members of Team One smiled at each other, because Maddie had that effect on people, and exited the conference room to go and meet them.

When Maddie saw them, she smiled and ran straight to Spike, wrapping her arms around his legs.

Spike laughed and picked Maddie up, hugging her to her chest.

While Spike had Maddie, Sam walked up to the group. His face still looked troubled, and he was obviously still not over the Audrey situation, but it was clear he was trying not to let Maddie see any of that.

"Sam, when you're ready, we still need to debrief from your calls today," Greg said, looking at his sniper.

Sam nodded understandingly. Seconds later, Winnie walked up to the group.

"I can watch Maddie while you debrief Sam."

Sam smiled thankfully at her then looked at his team. "I'll get Maddie situated and I'll be in in a minute."

Greg nodded and led the team back into the conference room. As Spike passed, he handed Maddie over to Sam.

Sam carried Maddie over to Winnie's desk and got her introduced and situated. Once Maddie was set, Sam joined his team in the conference room and debriefed from his Sierra calls, reliving them all over again.

...

Later that night, after Maddie went to bed, Sam sat on his couch with his eyes closed. It had been a long and exhausting day - mentally, physically and emotionally.

He didn't know how things with Audrey would turn out, but he knew it would get worse before it got better.

If this happened a few months ago, he'd be a lot more stressed about the situation, but times were different now and he had a team behind him.

* * *

 **I'm sorry this update has taken so long to get up.**

 **Life in the real world is busier than its ever been and I barely have enough time to do my school work, all the work with my internship, apply for jobs and work on licensure (for my degree) stuff AND have somewhat of a social life.**

 **I'm working on this whenever I can, but this and SAMTASTIC, are pretty low on the totem pole right now.**

 **I hope y'all understand.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen: What Are You Doing Here?**

Sam sat on the couch, finally able to relax after the hellish day. He was already having a rough day, thanks to the back to back hot calls, but Audrey showing up was what had pushed his day over the edge—from rough to just plain awful.

When Audrey did things like this, Sam found himself wondering how he ever fell for a girl like her; they were complete opposites. Sam was disciplined, caring and loyal, almost to a fault and Audrey was spoiled, selfish and incredibly immature. Sam hated her for leaving, walking out on him and their daughter, but at the same time, Sam still loved her. He realized he would always love her because, despite how things worked out between them, Audrey still gave him the best thing in his life: Maddie.

Sam was snapped out of his thoughts by a soft knock on the door. Sam shuffled over to the door and glanced through peephole. To say he was shocked by the face he saw staring back at him would be putting things lightly. Sam opened the door and met his visitor face to face.

"Jules?" The confusion was evident in Sam's voice.

"Hey." Jules said with a small smile. "Can I come in?"

"Uh, sure."

Sam moved aside and welcomed Jules into his apartment. Jules gave him a thankful smile as she walked into the living room. Despite Sam being a bachelor and the father of a 2 year old, the apartment was neat and orderly but still homely and inviting. Jules' smile grew as she entered the living room and saw the remains of what appeared to be a princess tea party on the coffee table.

Sam had followed Jules into the room and stood near the couch with his arms crossed loosely across his chest.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you Jules, but what exactly are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry for stopping by so late but, after everything that happened today, I just wanted to make sure you and Maddie were OK."

Sam gave her a small smile. "We're good, Jules. Maddie doesn't even know why she got picked up from daycare early...she just thought it was a special treat."

"Good. I'm glad." Jules said with a smile. "Hopefully, now that Audrey knows she's not welcome here, she'll stay away and leave you and Maddie alone."

The smile slid off Sam's face and was replaced by a serious look. "I doubt that. Audrey's never been one to let anything stand in the way of getting what she wants. She'll be back. My only worry is how big of a part the General will play in her plan."

"What do you mean?" Jules asked, confused.

Sam shrugged. "The General's never been able to say no to her. She called him, the first time in _months_ she made contact with anyone in my family, and he didn't even hesitate to tell her where Maddie and I were living, where I worked… I'm just glad I never told them where Maddie attends daycare or Audrey would know that too. The two of them working together could cause some problems."

"Is that a possibility?"

Jules was concerned. Neither Sam or Maddie deserved this; Maddie was one of the sweetest, most innocent little girls she'd ever met and Sam… Sam was smart, kind, passionate, loyal, brave and charming. _Wait, charming?_ Jules mentally shook herself. The feelings she had felt earlier flooded back and were stronger than ever. _No. This can't happen._

Jules snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Sam answer her question.

"Who knows? I wouldn't put it past Audrey to try something but I'm not sure about the General. I don't think he'd do anything to piss me off and risk not being able to see Maddie anymore but there's no telling with that man."

Jules nodded, understandingly. Her relationship with her own father wasn't the greatest but they didn't have even half of the history and bad blood as Sam and his father did. "Well, I'm here for you if you or Maddie need anything… All of Team One is."

Sam smiled at her. "Thanks Jules."

Jules smiled back at him. "No problem. That's what family's for, right?"

Sam nodded in agreement. He walked Jules to the door soon after that and held it open for her. Jules smiled at him as she crossed the threshold out of the apartment and back into the hallway.

With a final goodbye and a "see you Monday!" Sam shut the door and Jules took off down the hallway.

...

As Jules drove home, her thoughts began to wander again. She couldn't explain the different emotions she felt all day or why she drove all the way to Sam's apartment to check on him and Maddie instead of just calling or texting but she did and she wasn't really upset about it. _Stop it!_ _What's wrong with me?! I can't be falling for Sam. Could I?_

* * *

 **Here's a short little update(that turned out to be longer than I thought) that can hopefully hold you guys over until I can write a longer one!**

 **As I said in an earlier chapter, there will EVENTUALLY be a Sam and Jules romance, but I have other plans for this story as well, so it will be a slow build up to their inevitable relationship. Just hang in there! (;**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. A short update is better than no update right?**

 **If you have any prompt suggestions for SAMTASTIC or chapter ideas for this story, please let me know, either through the reviews, PMs or on Twitter!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys, I GRADUATED! College is over and now I'm on the hunt for a job. Yay.  
I'm hoping that updates will become more frequent but I've said that before so I'm not going to promise y'all anything.**

 **I will, however, have more time to write and update (hopefully).**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Best Birthday Ever**

June 11th was, by far, Sam's favorite day of the year; it was the day his life changed forever, the day his blonde haired, blue-eyed little girl arrived into the world and the day he became a father.

Madelyn Claire Braddock was officially a three year old and she began her birthday with a tantrum worthy of ten three year olds. Sam had been roped into working half a shift for one of Team Four's guys, so Maddie would be spending the morning celebrating her birthday with her teachers and friends at daycare. Maddie loved daycare, and she was far too young to actually realize and remember that it was her birthday, so Sam had no clue what brought on the Oscar-worthy freak out his toddler was currently giving him. The only thing he could do to calm her down was promising to bring purple princess cupcakes for her class when he picked her up.

After four hours at the SRU, a very boring four hours with absolutely no hot calls, and a forty-five minute trip to the bakery to fulfill his promise of purple princess cupcakes, Sam was standing in Maddie's classroom at Anytime Kids Care watching as 12 already hyperactive toddlers devoured said cupcakes.

After the cupcakes were finished and Maddie had been serenaded (loudly and extremely off-key) by her little friends, Sam signed her out and the two of them left to properly celebrate Maddie's birthday.

Maddie didn't know it, but Sam had a few special surprises in store for her. He couldn't wait to see her reaction.

The first birthday surprise was a trip to the zoo. Maddie spent a total of three hours running back and forth between exhibits, making sure each and every one of her favorite animals had been seen not once, but twice. Maddie had already had lunch (and two cupcakes) at daycare, but was starting to get hungry again so they stopped mid-way through their zoo journey for a snack at one of the zoo restaurants. Maddie insisted on ice cream with extra toppings as their snack and, even though Sam knew he'd regret the decision later when Maddie was bouncing off the wall, Sam agreed.

Maddie's second surprise was a special treat for both her and Sam; a trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop. Maddie was amazed at all the different choices and made sure she touched each one, insuring that the one she picked was the softest. Sam watched with a smile as Maddie held three _very_ different stuffed animal options in her hands and tried to figure out which one she wanted. A few minutes later, Maddie made the apparently impossible decision and chose the pink dinosaur. At first, Sam was surprised since Maddie also had a monkey and a penguin (two of her favorite animals) in her hands, but quickly realized it was the perfect choice. Spike had introduced Maddie to the _Land Before Time_ series the last time he babysat and Maddie had been obsessed with "dinos" ever since.

Sam helped Maddie put the monkey and penguin back, then led her over to the fluff machine where Maddie got to help stuff her dinosaur. At full-stuff, the dinosaur was about half the size of Maddie and Sam got a kick out of watching her try and navigate her way through the rest of the store while trying to hold it. The two of them brushed it out under the little air shower then went to the costume wall where Maddie had to make what Sam believed would be the second hardest decision of the day. However, Maddie surprised his as always and had her decision made the moment her bright blue eyes caught sight of it.

"Dat one daddy!" Maddie exclaimed, pointing up at one of the many costumes on the wall.

"Which one? This one?" Sam asked, pointing at the princess dress.

"No, da powees one!"

Sam's eyebrows rose. He was surprised by her choice, but handed her the little police costume anyway. Maddie took it happily and held it in her hand before looking at the other accessories and picking out one more thing—something that had Sam laughing and shaking his head.

One of the workers helped Maddie dress her dinosaur and fill out a special "birth certificate" for it. Maddie named her new friend Pinky Dino but very seriously told Sam, and the worker helping them, that it'd go by Dino for short.

Sam and the worker were still laughing about it when Sam checked out at the register.

Maddie's third and final birthday surprise came when she and Sam returned home and found all of her favorite SRU aunts and uncles (and their families) waiting for them. They sang "Happy Birthday" to Maddie and watched her blow out the candles on her cake and open the presents they brought her. Maddie thanked them and hugged them and showed off Dino (something that brought immense pride and joy to Spike). The smile never left Maddie's face and her happiness, as always, was contagious.

The team left after a few hours once Sam declared that it was nearing Maddie's bedtime. He also hinted at the impending sugar crash and his desire to get Maddie bathed and in bed before it happened.

Sure enough, Sam had just gotten a freshly bathed Maddie changed into her pajamas when the sugar high she'd been coasting all day ended, leaving Maddie exhausted and barely able to keep her eyes open.

Sam carried her to bed, tucked her in and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Happy birthday, munchkin," he whispered, wanting to tell her one more time while he still could.

"Tanks daddy. It was da best day ever!" Maddie said quietly, barely managing to get the words out through her exhaustion.

Sam's heart soared at her words and he placed another kiss on Maddie's forehead. "I'm glad you enjoyed it Mads. I love you."

"I wove you too daddy." Maddie declared as her eyes drifted shut.

Sam smiled and stood up from his crouched position. He turned her night light on and headed out of the room, but not before casting one more look back at his sleeping little girl and the pink dinosaur dressed in a police uniform and princess crown that was clutched in her arm.

The sight brought an even bigger smile to his face, one that was present until the moment Sam fell asleep himself.

It had really been one of the best days ever.

* * *

 **Some Sam and Maddie fluff that's so sweet you probably have your own sugar high after reading it, right? (:**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed!  
**

 **I have a few ideas for the next update, I just need to figure out which one I want to go with first. Stay tuned!**


	15. Chapter 15

**You guys voted, and I listened!  
Here's part one (of three, possibly)**

* * *

 **Chapter 15: From Bad to Worse**

It was another long day for Team One and for Sam in particular, an especially bad one.

An unusual toddler tantrum and missing backpack started the day and resulted in a late daycare drop-off for the newly turned three-year-old Maddie and an even later SRU arrival for a frustrated and exhausted Sam. After a night plagued by nightmares, a rough morning with a "three-nager" was the last thing Sam needed.

Once he got changed for Team One's typical pre-shift workout and situated in the gym with the other members of his team, Sam was only able to work out for half an hour before Rolie, Team Three's Sergeant, entered and requested that Sam join Team Three on a hot call to the VA hospital*. Greg gave the OK and Sam rushed back into the locker room to change into his uniform and gear up.

Three hours later, Team Three and Sam were headed back to the Barn.

Ultimately, the call could be counted as a success; all hostages were safe and no lives were lost. However, their "armed and extremely dangerous" subject was a retired JTF2 sergeant, one of Sam's from his first tour.

Out of sheer desperation to end things well, Sam was forced into negotiation and, as a result, the members of Team Three learned more about Sam's time in Kandahar—much more than they ever wanted to.

Once Sam and Team Three returned to the Barn, and Team One found out what happened during the hot call, Greg, Ed and Commander Holleran all talked to Sam individually in order to make sure he was OK and in the right mindset to continue working.

The three came to an agreement that Sam was alright to work, a difficult decision since Sam looked like crap _before_ he even went on the hot call, and sent him on a Timmy's run with Spike, hoping the change in environment (and Spike's happy-go-lucky attitude) would help clear his head.

Spike, doing what best friends did, had Sam smiling and joking around by the time they arrived back at the Barn with coffee for everyone.

Being back at the Barn with his team, a pressure-free coffee run with Spike, and a double shot of espresso added to iced capp had Sam's day starting to look up.

Then everything changed in the blink of an eye.

"Team One, hot call!" Winnie's voice called over the speakers.

The team headed over to Winnie's desk, hoping to get more information.

"What do we have, Winnie?" Sarge asked, looking at the dispatcher.

"It started as a suspicious persons call but has now turned to a possible bomb threat after a bag was left on the sidewalk outside the building." She was silent for a moment before her dread-filled eyes locked with Sam's. "It's from Maddie's daycare."

The smile that had just found its way back to Sam's face was gone again in an instant and replaced with looks of dread and fear, two things Team One rarely saw from their sniper.

"Gear up!" Greg said, quickly slipping into Sergeant mode. He spoke to his team but kept his eyes focused solely on Sam. "Winnie, send us any more information you get."

"Right Sarge."

Greg left Winnie's desk and hurried to catch up to his team.

Less than ten minutes later, Team One (with Babycakes in tow) was rolling out and on the way to Anytime Kids Care.

Spike was driving the command truck with Babycakes, Jules was riding with Wordy and Lou and Greg and Ed were riding with a worryingly silent Sam.

 _'Of all the days for this to happen, it had to be today,'_ Ed thought as he looked back at Sam through the rearview mirror. Calls involving kids always hit the team harder than most others, but calls where the child of a fellow SRU officer (or any family member for that matter) were always the worst.

" _Sarge?" Winnie's voice came over the comms. "I've got Sarah Jenkins on the line. She's the director of the center; she's calling from inside the building."_

"Thanks Winnie, patch her through."

After waiting a few seconds for Winnie to patch the phone call through to the comms, Greg spoke again. "Ms. Jenkins? This is Sergeant Greg Parker with the Strategic Response Unit. Can you tell me what's going on?"

" _Yes sir. About half an hour ago, a black sedan pulled into the parking lot. At first, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary; the center's open 24/7 because we aim to serve families that work non-traditional hours and a mid-day drop off or pick up is a daily occurrence. However, the longer I looked at the car I realized I'd never seen it before. I tried to get a look at the driver, to see if I recognized them, but the windows were so dark and tinted I couldn't get a good look."_

 _"When no one got out of the car after five minutes, I wrote down the license plate and was about to call our security officer and ask him to go check things out when the car's door opened. All the windows in the center are made of one-way glass—the staff can see out but people on the outside can't see in. It's a fantastic safety measure but it does tend to obscure the clarity when you're looking out of them. At this point, I was still giving whoever this person was the benefit of the doubt—I thought they could've been a family member of one of the kids who was picking up for the first time. I used our cameras to zoom in and try to get a better look and I knew instantly that something was wrong…call it a gut feeling."_

"What was it about this person that gave you a bad feeling?"

 _"Well for starters, he was wearing dark clothes. Not completely unusual, but it's still summer and this guy had on a solid black hoodie, with the hood up, black sunglasses and dark jeans. He also had a pink backpack slung over one shoulder. Again, not completely unusual, especially if a parent or caregiver is dropping off a forgotten backpack for one of the kids but… I don't know if you've ever seen a toddler carry a backpack Sergeant Parker but they're not gentle with it. The way this guy was carrying it, it was far too careful and gentle to be holding anything a child would need at daycare. I used the manual override for the keypad outside the door—the one that lets parents in when they enter the code—that way, even if this guy happened to have the correct code, he wouldn't be able to get in and called our security officer in."_

 _"By the time he arrived at the front, the guy outside had tried the code several times and was now starting to shake the handle on the door. I immediately alerted the teachers and had them lock down their classrooms. Thankfully, all of the teachers are well-trained and we have code words in place that allows the teachers to be briefed on certain issues while keeping the kids calm and unaware of any actual issues. Our security officer was halfway through placing a call to the police when the guy took the backpack off, carefully sat it down on the sidewalk outside and walked back to his car and drove away. That's when the call got transferred to the SRU."_

"Has anyone gone outside to check out the backpack?"

" _No sir. No one has left the building and thankfully no parents have shown up to get their kids."_

"That's good. Thank you, Ms. Jenkins. You've been incredibly helpful. My team and I are minutes away."

Greg disconnected the call after telling Sarah he'd call back if he had any updates or needed any more information. He turned slightly to look at Sam in the backseat. "Is there anyone in particular at the daycare you can think of that would warrant something like this? A staff member or one of the kids?"

Sam nodded, showing no emotion on his face but his eyes were alive with sadness. "One of the kids is more likely to be the….target…of something like this than a staff member. Several of the kids are the children of police officers like Maddie. It's possible this could all have been an enemy of one of the kids' parents trying to get revenge."

 _"Sam?" Wordy's voice came through the comms. "I hate to even ask this but is there any way Maddie could've been the target?"_

Sam closed his eyes and ran his hands over his face. "It's possible…with my father? It's always a possibility. But Maddie's daycare isn't public knowledge. The only people who know where she goes to daycare are you guys. My parents and sister don't even know."

"Let's backtrack for a minute," Ed said, looking at Sam in the mirror. "What did you mean when you said 'it's always a possibility with your father'?"

"My father's nickname is General Badass. You don't get that title by being nice to people. He's made A LOT of people mad during his time in the military and this would not be the first time someone's gone through his kids, or grandkid in this case, to get to him."

"Let's not borrow trouble just yet, Sam." Greg said as Ed turned into the Anytime Kids Care parking lot.

After parking the trucks, everyone filed out and waited for their assignments.

"Eddy, I want you, Lou and Wordy to do a sweep of the perimeter. See if there's some way to get the kids out safely. Spike, get Babycakes out here and go check out that backpack. Jules, I want you in the command truck. I'll get Ms. Jenkins to send you the security camera footage, see if you can get something helpful off of it. Sam, you're with me."

Everyone nodded and took off to perform their tasks.

Greg called Sarah back and had her send the security footage to Jules, who immediately started watching it, trying to find something that would help them get an ID on their mystery man.

Spike got Babycakes out of the truck and slowly started approaching the front of the daycare center. Ed, Lou and Wordy made their way around the perimeter of the center, watching for anything out of the ordinary and looking for an alternate way out of the building for the kids. They found one, a fire and emergency exit in the back of the building, that led into an empty field that would easily (and safely) hold all of the kids and staff should they have to clear the building.

Ed radioed their findings into Greg.

Jules' work in finding something on their suspect was unsuccessful. The cameras never got a clear view of the guy's face and the plates on the car that Sarah provided them were unregistered and didn't belong on the car.

By this time, Spike and Babycakes were just a few feet away from the backpack. As Babycakes got closer, Spike started pressing buttons on the controls.

After a minute, Spike's voice came over the comms. _"There's no bomb; Babycakes has detected no sign of any bomb or explosive material."_

"So it's just a normal backpack?" Sam asked, frustration and relief leaking into his voice.

 _"Could be. I'm about to open it up."_

"Maybe this wasn't a targeted event at all." Jules said, coming out of the command truck to join Greg and Sam. "Maybe it was just a parent or family member dropping off a backpack."

 _"Uh oh." Spike's voice sounded over the comms._

"What's going on Spike?" Greg asked.

" _This was definitely targeted...there's a name on this backpack."_

The uneasy feeling Sam had had throughout the entire hot call flared up again. He could hope all he wanted, but deep down, he had a feeling he knew what name was on the backpack. "Whose name, Spike?

The moment of silence that followed Sam's question was enough for Sam to know that his suspicion was correct. Still, he needed to hear Spike confirm it.

 _"It's Maddie's."_

* * *

 **To be continued...in the next update!**

 ***VA stands for Veteran Affairs. VA hospitals are hospitals for military veterans.**

 **A/N: I'm sorry updates are taking so long to get up. Life has been both incredibly boring and incredibly busy. My home state of Texas, mainly the gulf coast, is still feeling the effects of Hurricane Harvey. Rescues are still happening by the dozens, tens of thousands have been displaced/had to seek refuge in cities hundreds of miles away and hundreds have lost everything. There's also another tropical storm heading towards us that meteorologists are predicting will be a Cat 4 before landfall. While my area has not directly been affected, we have taken in over 1,000 refugees and have several different donation drives up and running.**

 **Hurricane Harvey aside, I've been incredibly stressed about finding a job post-graduation. College should come with job experience because even "entry level" jobs require like, 5 years of experience. My student loan payments start soon and, unfortunately, watching Fixer Upper on my couch makes no money.**

 **If I'm being completely honest with y'all, my motivation and inspiration to write just hasn't been there. I'm working on finding some but well, it's gone about as well as the job search.**

 **Thanks for sticking with me! I hope this update didn't disappoint.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Long time, no update huh?  
My bad.**

 **In keeping with the apparent tradition I have of littering each update with an excuse as to why the update took so long, I have another one for you.**

 **I finally got a job, my first "big girl" job post-college and it involved me moving hours away, to a place where I know no one but my coworkers, and being thrust headfirst into adulthood. I have rent and bills to pay and groceries to buy and 'responsible decisions' to make and y'all, I want to go back to being a kid.  
**

 **I'm hoping to get back into the swing of updating this and SAMTASTIC, but finding time to write AND get my life together has been challenging.**

 **A great big THANK YOU to everyone who has continued to read and review this story: your support is what keeps me going.**

 **Here's the update. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 16: From Bad to Worse Pt 2**

At Spike's revelation, Sam closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His suspicions had, unfortunately, been confirmed.

After a moment, he spoke with a quiet, forced calm. "What's in the bag, Spike?"

 _"Gimme a minute."_

They could hear Spike working Babycakes' controls over the comms, maneuvering the robot to open the backpack. They could also hear him curse softly when the backpack was finally open.

"Spike? What is it?" Sam asked, dreading whatever answer he'd get.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." After a brief moment of silence, Spike continued. "We're all clear down here Sarge. I'm heading back to you."

"Copy that, Spike."

While waiting for Spike and the others to rejoin the group, Greg called Sarah and told her that everything was clear and they were all safe.

Ed, Lou and Wordy made it back to the trucks first and Spike and Babycakes joined them a few minutes later. Spike put Babycakes back into the truck then walked over to his teammates. He saw all of their eyes zone in on the backpack in his hands. Maddie's name could clearly be seen on the front of it and, even though he already knew it was on there, Spike saw Sam's jaw clench when he saw it in person.

Spike stopped when he got to his teammates.

"What's in the bag, Spike?" Ed asked, keeping a careful eye on Sam as he spoke.

Spike looked at Sam, sighed, then reached inside the bag. What he pulled out made everyone gasp. In Spike's hand was a stuffed pink dinosaur, wearing a police uniform and a princess crown.

Sam wanted to puke.

Ed looked over at Sam. "Sam? Is there any way this is the same dinosaur Maddie got for her birthday?"

Sam didn't respond; he just kept staring at the dinosaur in Spike's hands.

After sharing a concerned look with the rest of the team, Ed moved around to stand right in front of Sam. As a father, Ed could not, DID not, even want to imagine what was going on in Sam's mind. Ed put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Sam?"

The weight of Ed's hand on his shoulder anchors Sam back to the present and he looks at his team leader. "That's not Maddie's."

"You're sure?"

"Positive. I saw it this morning and Maddie's doesn't have the crown anymore."

Sam's revelation brought a small amount of comfort, but only a small amount because the mystery of the Maddie backpack and identical dinosaur was still at the forefront of their minds.

"Does anyone else know about Maddie's dinosaur?" Wordy asked, determinedly. His father side was coming out; he knew that if he was in Sam's position, he'd want whoever was behind this caught and dealt with.

"No. Other than you guys and the people who were at the store when we made it, no one's seen it. Even if someone had seen it well enough to make an exact copy of it, there's no way they could've known where Maddie goes to daycare. My own parents don't even know where Maddie goes to daycare. I keep it strictly need to know."

"It's really not that hard to get banking statements, Sam..." Lou said, coming to stand next to Spike.

"I know." Sam said, crossing his arms across his chest so his hands could grab onto his vest. "That's why I pay in cash every month."

The members of Team One all shared a look.

"This...is not good." Spike concluded, pointing out the obvious.

"How many people in your life know about Maddie?" Greg asked.

"My family, Audrey's family, the daycare staff, and the SRU."

"That's it?"

"Well, some of the parents of the other kids in the daycare, her pediatrician and a few others but for the most part, yeah that's it."

Ed chimed in. "What about the military? What do they know?"

"She's listed in my file and in the General's but because Maddie's a minor, her information is sealed." Sam shrugged his shoulders. "The General has many, many faults but his want to protect his family, specifically Maddie, is not one of them."

"Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary? Someone following you or...?"

"No. That I definitely would've noticed."

Greg sighed. He didn't know _what_ was going on with the situation, but he knew he didn't like it. He hated when calls were personal for one of his team. "Alright boys and girl, let's pack up and head out. The unis can handle everything else here."

The members of Team One nodded and started packing the trucks up with the rest of their gear. Sam lingered behind for a moment and Greg went over to him. He could see the exhaustion and worry of the day clearly in Sam's eyes.

Greg put a hand on the young sniper's shoulder. "You've had a hell of a morning. Why don't you take the rest of the day off—spend some time with Maddie, or even take some time for yourself?"

"I appreciate that Sarge, but I'm good."

It took everything Greg had not to roll his eyes. "I know being a full-time working parent, and a _single_ parent at that, can't be easy and after today's calls… I think an afternoon off would do you some good."

Sam sighed and gave in, knowing his sergeant wasn't one to give up easily. "Alright. Thanks Sarge."

Greg gave him a smile and patted his shoulder.

They helped the team finish packing up and headed back to the Barn.

Everyone knew there was more to this Maddie case than meets the eye but they all hoped that whatever this was, was a one time deal.

They could not have been more wrong.

* * *

 **That's it for this update! It was originally supposed to be a lot longer but I have no idea how long it would've taken me to write it all up and I wanted you guys to have an update sooner rather than later so I broke it up.**

 **Hopefully the next part will be up remotely soon.**


	17. Chapter 17

**This is probably my quickest update for this piece. Ever.**

 **Don't get used to it though. It was a slow week at work.  
If you knew my line of work, you'd know this is a good thing (but also could be a bad thing, depending on how you look at it).**

 **Nonetheless, enjoy!**

 *** _Italics_ are a flashback***

* * *

 **Chapter 17: From Bad to Worse Pt 3**

Commander Holleran was just as, if not more, understanding about the situation as Greg and Team One was and he had no problem granting permission for Sam to have the rest of the day off. Just like he did with Greg, Sam tried to fight it but there was no fire behind it. Despite the indifferent, tough-guy façade he was trying to maintain, Sam couldn't deny that this situation with Maddie had really shaken him up.

He quickly changed into his civilian clothes and was out the door.

Sam was extra vigilante on the way to pick up Maddie; he went the long way, taking extra turns and side streets. He added almost 20 minutes onto his commute time but at least that way he was certain no one had followed him.

When Sam got to Anytime Kids Care and made it inside, he personally thanked Sarah for everything she'd done earlier and keeping all of the kids safe. Sarah blushed at praise then quickly turned it back onto Sam and thanked him (and his team) for the quick response.

Sam just smiled, signed Maddie out and went down the hall to her classroom to collect her. When Sam made it to the room Maddie was in, she was fully enthralled with coloring and didn't even see him. Sam smiled and shared a knowing nod with Jenna, who was more than knowledgeable about earlier activities.

Jenna gave him a thankful, relieved smile and turned to Maddie. "Maddie?"

Maddie looked up from her coloring sheet expecting just to see Jenna. When she saw Sam standing just inside the door, a huge smile lit up her face. "Daddy!"

"Hey munchkin," Sam said with a laugh as Maddie, in her excited, quickened haste to get to him, bumped into and stumbled over chairs and toys as she ran over to him.

As soon as Maddie was within arm's reach, Sam bent down and swept her up in a big hug. He never doubted the center's ability to keep her safe during the hot call earlier, but having her safely in his arms made any lasting anxiety melt away. Then again, Maddie always had that effect on him.

"I go home?" Maddie asked, a slight look of confusion clouding her bright blue eyes.

"Yep. I got off of work early, so we're going home."

"Yay!" Maddie cried and started squirming to be put down. Sam complied, and she immediately ran over to her cubby to grab her stuff.

When Maddie was ready, Sam grabbed her hand and they headed out.

Sam, once again, went out of his way on the drive home. He was sure no one had followed him to the day care, but he wasn't taking any chances now that he had Maddie with him.

When they got into their apartment, Maddie immediately ran into her room to put her backpack away and play with her toys. Sam did a quick sweep of the apartment on his way to the kitchen and nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.

Until…

"Daddy?" Maddie asked, walking into the living room. "Have you seen my dino? It was on my bed dis morning and now I can't find it anywhere."

No.

Dread washed over Sam and he turned to face Maddie at impressive speed, one hand reaching into his pocket for his cell phone. "Safe space. Now."

Maddie's eyes grew wide but she didn't move.

"Maddie, GO! Stay there until someone comes to get you." Sam ordered. He hated that his three year old even _had_ a "safe space" but it came in handy when the time called for it.

Times like now.

"You'll be fine, I promise." Sam said quietly but strongly. As Maddie started to leave the room Sam added "I love you."

As soon as Maddie was out of the room, Sam pulled out his phone and sent a text to the team.

Before the message had even finished sending, Sam heard a noise behind him and turned to find two men in ski masks coming out of the hallway that led to his bedroom.

As Sam prepared to….do whatever he needed to to keep Maddie safe, he just hoped his message went through and that the team would be there soon.

When the masked men attacked, Sam was able to hold his own. Hand to hand combat was one of his strengths, left over from his time in Special Forces. Two on one was usually not a problem for Sam. However, two on one in a confined space like the kitchen and hallway they were in made things more difficult, but Sam was not willing to move the fight into the living room and have these men that much closer to Maddie.

Thoughts of Maddie proved to be Sam's downfall, causing just enough of a distraction for the masked men to get the upper hand in the fight. The tallest one, who would surely have a broken nose after being on the receiving end of Sam's fist one too many times, pulled out a gun and pistol-whipped Sam on the temple.

While the pistol-whip did not immediately send Sam into unconsciousness, it did stun him long enough for the masked men to have all upper hand they needed. The tall man hit Sam one more time, successfully rendering him unconscious, while the shorter one came up behind Sam and bound his hands and feet.

Fighting as hard as he could against the darkness threatening to engulf him, Sam felt himself being bound and carried.

As unconsciousness took him, Sam's last thoughts were about Maddie.

Then, he knew nothing.

...

The members of Team One, sans Sam, were seated around the table in the conference room, debriefing from the day's calls. They were all glad that Holleran approved Sam going home early. The call at Maddie's daycare had shaken them all and, while nothing really came about from the call, they all had a nagging suspicion that something wasn't right about the whole thing.

All at once, everyone's phones dinged, signaling the arrival of a text message. Sharing a look with one another, everyone pulled out their phones. They all had one text message from Sam, and what it said reaffirmed their suspicions that something was wrong.

' _10-33'_

10-33. Officer in need of assistance.

The members of Team One shared a shocked look with each other.

"Track his phone, Spike." Greg ordered, voice clipped.

Spike nodded and jumped out of his chair, Greg, Ed, Wordy, Jules and Lou all following him.

Not wanting to waste what could be precious time running to his tech room, Spike ran straight to the dispatch desk.

As he rounded the desk, Spike called out. "Winnie, I need to use your computer!"

Before Winnie could say anything, Spike was there, wheeling her chair out of the way.

Winnie looked to the other members of Team One for an explanation, but they were watching Spike type furiously on the keyboard.

After a few seconds, Spike was able to track Sam's phone. He looked at his teammates. "I pinged his phone to the Parkdale area but I can't get anymore specific than that."

"Sam's apartment is in the Parkdale area." Jules added.

"Yeah."

"Gear up!" Greg ordered, and the remaining members of Team One ran off to do just that. Greg looked at Winnie. "Possible hot call; we got a 10-33 from Sam. Let Holleran know and if ANY calls come in from Sam's apartment complex patch me through immediately."

Winnie nodded, and Greg ran off to join his team at the trucks.

Lights flashing and sirens blaring, Team One headed out, hoping they weren't too late.

...

The ten minutes it took Team One to get to Sam's apartment were some of the longest minutes of their lives.

When they arrived, the superintendent was waiting for them, having been called by Greg on the way over. Once inside, Spike led the way up the stairs to Sam's apartment. Using the master key from the super to unlock the deadbolt and the handle lock, Spike opened the door and entered the apartment, the other members of Team One entering behind him ready for anything.

Although Team One was preparing for the worst, they were not ready for the destruction and the signs of an obvious struggle.

"Clear the apartment," Ed said, channeling Team Leader mode.

Room by room, the team searched Sam's apartment and after a quick sweep, they met back up in the living room.

"The window in Sam's room is broken and it leads straight out onto a fire escape and an alley." Spike said, tightly crossing his arms over his chest.

"There's blood in the kitchen." Wordy said solemnly. "Not a ton, but someone was definitely injured."

"So Sam's missing and probably injured?" Lou asked.

Jules was the last to join the group and she brought something with her. "We might have another problem."

When they all looked at Jules, she held up Maddie's _real_ backpack. "This was on Maddie's bed."

There was silence for a moment while everyone collected their thoughts. Then Greg spoke.

"Get Winnie to put an APB out on Sam and issue an Amber alert for Maddie."

"Are we even sure Maddie's missing?" Spike asked, looking at his team.

"Her backpack is here, she's not, the apartment's been broken into and both the top and bottom locks on the door were locked." Jules countered, placing Maddie's backpack down on the couch. "The super said Sam's neighbors were all at work. If Maddie's not missing, where is she Spike?"

Realization hit Spike like a Mack truck and he wanted to smack himself for not remembering it earlier. He quickly (and quietly) made his way to Maddie's room, a confused Team One following behind him. Once in the toddler's room, Spike went over to the closet and opened it up. He shoved all the clothes to one side to reveal the wall on the side of the closet. At least, Team One thought it was just a wall.

Spike reached down towards the corner of the wall and, to his team's shock and amazement, pulled open a small Dutch door that led to a small little room. Inside was a wide-eyed, terrified Maddie clutching onto a squishy pillow for dear life.

The second Maddie saw Spike she launched into his arms, held on tight and did something Team One had never seen her do—cry.

Spike held her close, stood up and tried to soothe the distraught little girl. Greg, Ed, Wordy, Jules and Lou looked at him with wide eyes.

"How did you know where she was?" Lou asked his friend.

Spike cracked a small smile. "Funny story…"

 _Spike tore through the apartment in a frenzy, looking under beds, behind furniture and on top of shelves. He'd looked everywhere and had been looking everywhere for upwards of ten minutes and he still couldn't find Maddie! 'Why did I think playing Hide-And-Seek with the daughter of a Special Forces soldier would be fun?' he thought to himself as he swept the apartment one more time._

 _Another unsuccessful search and Spike decided to bite the bullet and call Sam for help. Pulling out his phone, Spike dialed Sam's number and listened to the rings, waiting for Sam to answer._

 _"Hello?"_

 _Spike swallowed. "Hey buddy…how's work?"_

 _There was silence on the other end of the phone and Spike could practically see Sam quirking an eyebrow. "Spike….I know you didn't call me to how work's going so what's up?"_

 _Spike sighed. "It's about Maddie."_

 _"What about Maddie?! Is she OK?"_

" _She's fine, I think, but she wanted to play hide-and-seek and I said OK as long as she stayed in the apartment. Well its her turn to hide and I can't find her. I've looked everywhere for her Sam, like I've torn your apartment apart looking for her!"_

 _To Spike's surprise, Sam laughed on the other end of the line. "Breathe Spike. I bet she's in her safe space."_

 _"Her safe space?" Spike asked, bewildered. Why does a toddler need a safe space?_

 _"Go into her closet. On the exterior wall, at the bottom corner where the wall meets the floor, there's a small lip. Pull on it and it opens a hidden door to a small storage room. Maddie found it shortly after we moved in and since it's hidden, we decided to make it her 'safe space'. She's only supposed to use it for emergencies, but every once in a while she forgets and likes to play in it."_

 _As Sam was talking, Spike walked into Maddie's bedroom, went to her closet and followed the instructions Sam gave. Sure enough, there was Maddie, grinning like the cat that ate the canary. She giggled when she saw Spike._

 _"I found her Sam."_

 _"Good. I should be home in about an hour." Sam ended the conversation, but not before adding "no more hide-and-seek"._

 _Spike had agreed wholeheartedly._

The team nodded their understanding and, despite the situation they were currently dealing with, smiled at the story.

By this time, Maddie had calmed down enough to where her cries had lessened to hiccups. Lou ran to get her some water while Spike sat her down on her bed and the team circled around her.

Greg bent down and got eye level with the toddler. "Maddie? Can you tell us what happened after your dad picked you up from daycare?"

Maddie nodded, her now disheveled curls bobbing up and down. "We came home and I came in here to pway with my toys while daddy was in da kitchen. I went out der to ask him about my dino and he told me to go to my safe space."

The mention of her dino peaked everyone's interest. Ed bent down on the other side of her. "What about your dino?"

"I weft it on my bed dis morning when daddy and I weft but when we got home it wasn't der no more."

Ed shared a look with Greg and then the rest of the team.

"Did your dino still have it's police officer outfit on?" Wordy asked, fearing the answer he would possibly get.

Maddie nodded. "And da pwincess crown."

"I thought your daddy said your dino didn't have the crown anymore?"

"I finded it last night."

That was the proof they needed that the dinosaur from the hot call earlier _was_ Maddie's. After all, how many fluffy pink dinosaurs wearing police uniforms and princess crowns could there be in Toronto?

Ed spoke again. "Did your dad say anything when he told you to go to your safe space?"

"He said to stay der until someone came to get me and dat I would be OK and dat he wuved me." Maddie sniffled again and looked at her dad's teammates, her eyes landing and staying on Spike. "Where my daddy go? Is he OK?"

Spike sighed and bent down in front of Maddie. "I don't know where your daddy went Maddie, but I promise you, we're going to find him. OK?"

Maddie stared at him for a minute before sticking her hand out. "Pinky pwomise?"

Spike smiled a sad smile and hooked his pinky around hers. "Pinky promise."

Sworn by the oath of the all-powerful pinky promise, Spike stood up (along with Ed and Greg) and was ready and willing to do whatever it took to get Sam back.

Greg looked at his team. "Spike, Lou, talk to the super and see if they have cameras in the alley. I want to know who and how many people used that fire escape. Ed, Wordy, talk to the neighbors that are home—see if anyone saw or heard anything. I'll call Holleran and get the APB out for Sam. Jules, get the unis over here to start processing the scene and stay with Maddie; if she's the target in all of this, whoever took Sam might try to get her as well."

Team One nodded and everyone went off to do their jobs.

This call took personal to an all new level; someone was messing with their team and Team One did not like when someone messed with their team.

* * *

 ***Shout out to missblueeyes63 (the mecca of all things Flashpoint) for the help with the Officer in Need of Assistance code.***

 **I definitely like the first half of this chapter better than the last half but I hope you all enjoyed it nonetheless.**

 **Check the poll in my bio and cast your vote on chapter length/update preference!  
**

 **Be on the lookout for a SAMTASTIC update! I'm hoping it'll be up soon!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Here it is!**

 **Happy New Year and sorry for the delay in updating.**

 ***mentions of torture (kind of), nothing too graphic***

* * *

 **Chapter 18: A Turning Point**

 **Basement.**

 **Two Hours Later.**

When Sam came too, he was in pain. He was thankful to now be sitting in a chair, despite his hands being zip tied behind him, but the new position did nothing to alleviate the pain in his (surely broken) ribs.

Sam didn't have to open his eyes to know that he was still in the basement; the stale, dank air gave it away.

Forcing his good eye open, Sam was able to confirm that he was in fact in the basement and, for the moment, alone. His head was pounding and, though the light in the basement was dim, it did nothing but amplify the pain in his head.

Closing his eyes once again in an attempt to keep the ever-growing nausea at bay, Sam mentally checked himself over, cataloging his symptoms and injuries.

Pounding headache, nausea, ringing in ears, dizziness; _concussion._

Eye throbbing and swollen shut, little to no visibility; _broken eye socket? Eye damage?_

The pain in his chest was easy to diagnose. _Broken ribs, at least 2._

Sam was only halfway through cataloguing his injuries when the basement door slammed open and he heard three sets of stomps coming down the stairs.

 _Back for round three._ Sam thought to himself.

As he listened to his captors' footsteps grow closer, Sam thought back to the last two times his captors came to see him. The first time, it was just the two that attacked him in his apartment. They had continued their beating when Sam didn't tell them where Maddie was but quickly learned they should've used something stronger than rope to restrain him when he broke free and, in turn, broke one if not both of their noses.

A hit to the ribs from a discarded pipe nearby brought Sam to the ground and a hard steel-toed boot kick to the face sent him soundly into unconsciousness.

The next time Sam saw his captors, they had a third man with them and he had a cattle prod. He also wasn't playing any games. One unanswered question resulting in a shocking prod to the solar plexus sent Sam quickly back into oblivion.

His captors had finally appeared in front of him and Sam tried to prepare himself for what they were going to do next.

...

 **SRU HQ.**

After getting the security camera footage from the super, talking to the neighbors and leaving the unis to process the scene and send all findings and results to the SRU, Team One and Maddie, who was now in their protective custody, headed back to the SRU to review the footage.

When they returned to the Barn, Spike immediately started going through the security camera and traffic camera footage while Lou sat next to him and started running through any possible leads Spike threw at him. Greg went to Holleran for a full briefing while Ed and Wordy started going through all of the information and background they had on Sam, trying to see if they could find someone who had it out for their sniper. Unfortunately, having a General as a father and a decorated past with Special Forces, that list was rather long.

Jules had spent time with Maddie, getting her snacks and playing games in an attempt to keep her mind of her missing dad and terrifying afternoon, but after a while the team needed her help with the search for Sam so Jules turned over protection detail to Troy and Team Two.

That was two hours ago.

Every lead they had off of the camera footage ended up a dead end and they couldn't get as much information about Sam's past as they wanted to because many of his records were still sealed and protected by the military.

They were still waiting on evidence and any possible DNA hits to come back from the police forensics team and it was starting to look like that would be their last hope.

As Ed slammed another folder down on the table in frustration, Troy walked into the briefing room. "Any luck?"

"Nothing!" Ed practically growled.

"Where's Maddie?" Jules asked, looking at the man she put in charge of their young charge.

"She's being very carefully watched by Team Two in the shoot house."

"You took a three year old to the shoot house?!" Wordy asked, in shock. "Are you crazy?"

Troy put his hands up in a placating manner. "Would you relax? They're using Nerf guns and Maddie's kicking butt. Her team's won every time."

That made Team One smile. Maddie was her father's daughter.

Ed laughed. "What'd you expect Troy? Her father's a Special Forces trained sniper."

"She's three!"

"She's a Braddock!" Spike answered with a laugh. "It's in her genes."

Troy shrugged as a way of agreement then grew serious again. "So there's no leads or anything?"

"No. Spike was able to find Sam being taken from his apartment and put into an SUV and traffic cameras followed in driving west, but we lost it after a few miles. We ran the plates but they came back stolen. Most of Sam's neighbors were at work during the attack and those that were home didn't hear anything. The PD's forensics unit took samples and collected evidence from the apartment and until they send us their findings, we've got nothing." Greg explained, rubbing a hand across his bald head.

"Have you called his dad? Maybe whoever took Sam is related to his past in the military?"

Greg nodded. "Holleran called and left a message with his aide to call us."

Troy nodded and sighed disappointedly.

Before anyone could say anything else, Maddie and the rest of Team Two came back from the shoot house. They all tried to put on a brave (and somewhat happy) face for Maddie, but everyone, even their perceptive three-year-old charge, could see right through it.

Nick, the newest member of Team Two, stood in the doorway of the briefing room. "We're taking Maddie to the simulation room if you guys want to come….maybe take a breather for a few minutes and see if Maddie can kick our butts in there too?"

Team One smiled and followed Team Two. Before following his team, Greg stopped by Winnie's desk and made sure she knew to get them the second the call came in with the forensics results or if they got any hits on their APB.

As Greg walked away, Winnie sighed sadly and went back to typing, hoping and praying they'd get the call soon.

...

 **Basement.**

 **One Hour Later.**

Sam's world was full of pain. His already injured head was hurting more than ever and, since regaining consciousness after his last encounter with his captors, he'd lost the battle to keep the nausea at bay more than once. His left eye was completely swollen shut now and Sam knew that even more of his ribs were either broken or bruised. The pain a little further down in his abdomen made him believe he might also have some internal bleeding but he had no way to truly know for sure.

Despite the pain in his ribs and abdomen, Sam was thankful his captors had sat his chair back up after knocking it over in their last beating. If they hadn't, he'd be in much more pain than he was.

Sam gingerly adjusted his position in the chair and as his zip tied hands grazed against the back of the chair, he felt a sharp nail slice the back of his hand.

Wincing, Sam quickly moved his hands away before he realized what he'd cut his hand on.

 _A nail must've came loose when they knocked the chair over._

Sam slowly moved his hands back over to where the nail was and started running the zip tie over the nail, hoping it'd be enough to saw through the zip ties.

Sure enough, the zip tie broke after about 5 minutes of sawing and Sam was free of his restraints. As he moved his arms back in front of him, his shoulders screamed at the change of position and they tingled as full blood flow was restored.

It was a full fifteen minutes later that Sam was able to stand up and walk. The pounding and spinning of his head where to the point where it was almost debilitating; for any other person it would have been but Sam was alone and free and he was going to push through every ounce of pain to make the best of his situation.

It took Sam even longer to get over to the stairs and when he did, he leaned heavily against the wall and panted, trying desperately to hold onto the consciousness that was threatening to leave him.

Swallowing back the bile rising in his throat, Sam slowly and painfully made his way up the stairs, the wall and stair rail holding him up more than his own legs were.

Several agonizing minutes later, Sam reached the top of the staircase. Quietly, Sam turned the handle on the door and found that it was unlocked.

 _Idiots._

Gently pushing the door open a crack, Sam listened for any sign that his captors were around. All he heard was silence.

Sam smiled slightly as his suspicions were confirmed. He'd heard three car doors slam as he started coming too earlier but, at the time, they were so faint he didn't know if they were his captors or someone else.

Sam crossed the threshold from the basement and entered the kitchen area of the house. The kitchen looked unfinished as did much of what he could see about the house. It looked like the entire house was in the process of being built. Raw Sheetrock covered the walls and the floors were rough and unfinished. The kitchen had no appliances or lighting fixtures and the closest thing to furniture in the living room area were a few fold up chairs and a plastic card table. In the middle of the table sat a closed laptop and a wireless internet router.

If it didn't hurt, Sam would've rolled his eyes at the stupidity of his captors.

With pain-staking slowness, Sam made his way over to the table and opened the laptop. When the screen came to life, he saw the basement over a grainy video feed. When Sam minimized the camera screen, he saw an opened email account filled with emails detailing how his (and Maddie's) capture was supposed to play out...and the future plans that hadn't come to fruition yet.

Sam started clicking through the emails and forwarding them to Spike, who he hoped was on his computer and could make something more out of them than he could.

Sam was so engrossed in the emails that he didn't hear the front door open behind him.

* * *

 **That's it for now! Sorry for the cliffy (;**

 **I hope you all enjoyed.**

 **The next update from me will be on SAMTASTIC, and y'all, it's going to be a HEART WRENCHER. If you thought ' _The One with the Dream'_ was bad...just you wait. Prepare yourselves now. (;**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Hope**

"Freeze! Put your hands in the air!"

At the sudden intrusion, Sam whirled around (as best he could), hands in the air as instructed, and came face to face with two police officers, guns drawn. The cops looked at the bruised and battered man in front of them, shocked.

This was NOT what they were expecting when they got a call from dispatch to go and check out suspicious activity at a construction site. At the most, they figured they'd walk into a robbery in progress or someone squatting in the house, not _this,_ whatever it was.

The older of the two cops took a good, long look of the man in front of him. Something about him looked familiar, and once the cop was able to get past the bruised and bloody face, swollen eye and disheveled appearance, he realized what it was.

"Sam?" the cop asked, placing his gun back in the holster. "Sam Braddock?"

Sam stared at the officers in front of him, his glassy eyes locked on them in a confused stare. He was fighting a losing battle with consciousness, the sudden, jerky movement of him whirling around aggravating his injuries and making the pain flare. As his vision tunneled, Sam nodded his head once before the pain won and he slipped into the realm of unconsciousness, collapsing to the ground with a thud.

The older cop who recognized Sam moved forward to help while his partner cleared the house and found the evidence of Sam's torturous afternoon in the basement. He called for additional units and an ambulance.

...

 **SRU HQ.**

Jules sat at the far end of the table in the briefing room. Maddie sat beside her and in between them was a large coloring book and every color crayon a three-year-old could ever want. The rest of the team was still following any and every lead and piece of evidence they had to try and find Sam but they were coming up empty. They had been stood down by Commander Holleran, unable to focus on anything other than finding Sam.

A small sigh snapped Jules out of her thoughts of her teammate and brought her attention back to the now sad little girl sitting across from her. Maddie was absentmindedly fiddling with the crayon in her hand, clearly no longer interested in the picture of the elephant she'd been coloring.

Jules noticed her furrowed brow. The toddler was clearly thinking about something, Sam's brow usually furrowed when he was deep in thought too. _Why do I know that?_

Jules shook her head lightly and focused back on Maddie."What'cha thinking about Maddie?"

"I miss my daddy." She answered sadly, her mouth set in a small pout.

"I know you do Maddie, but we're going to find him. I promise."

"Wat if you don't? Wat if daddy neva come home?"

Jules' heart broke as she saw the tears welling up in Maddie's eyes. Jules reached across and lifted Maddie out of her chair, settling her in her lap and hugging her tight. "Maddie, sweetheart, I promise you we're going to find your dad. He's going to come home because he loves you more than anything in the world and nothing is going to keep him from coming back to you. OK?"

Maddie leaned away from Jules, her young eyes searching for the truth behind the words.

After a moment, Maddie nodded then leaned into Jules again and hugged her. "Tank you Aunty Jules."

Jules smiled and hugged Maddie back. "You're welcome, Maddie."

Maddie went back to coloring, still in Jules' lap, until Wordy came bursting into the room. Jules (and Maddie) both looked up shocked at the sudden intrusion. Jules was about to ask him what was wrong when she noticed a look on his face that she hadn't seen on anyone's face since the hot call to Maddie's daycare earlier that day; the look of hope.

"What—?" Jules started, but Wordy interrupted her before she could finish her question.

"Winnie just got a call from the police dispatch." He started, then his face broke into a huge grin. "They found Sam."

* * *

 **I know it's short, I'm sorry.**

 **Even though I've had this part planned out from pretty early on, I'm having trouble writing it. However, I'm confident that we get past this part, the updates will be longer.**

 **Truth be told, I could have made this update longer, but it would've taken WAYYY longer and I want you guys to have an update AT LEAST once a month on this story.**

 **Regardless of length, I hope you guys enjoyed!**

 **P.S. I'm usually pretty good at reading and replying to reviews with thanks or the occasional update. However, I can't do that if you're logged in as a guest. Just saying (:**


	20. Chapter 20

**I was hoping to get this up earlier, since it was mostly fully written mid-month, but we got slammed at work (a good but bad and sad thing in my line of work) and since that's where I do most of my writing, it got pushed to the back burner.**

 **But now it's complete, so enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 20: Ouch**

As they sat, once again, in the waiting room at St. Simon's Hospital, the members of Team One were torn. On one hand, they wanted to be at the hospital and see Sam as soon as they could but on the other, they wanted to be the ones to go to the house where Sam was found instead of Team Two.

They left Maddie at SRU HQ with Winnie, wanting to know what shape Sam was in before bringing her to see him.

Once the call that Sam had been found came in, Team One made it to the hospital in record time, arriving at the hospital mere seconds after the ambulance carrying Sam did. However, due to the hustle and bustle of a busy ER, they were unable to get a good look at him.

That was thirty minutes ago and, other than a few updates from Team Two at the scene, they had not received an update on Sam's condition. In those thirty minutes, each member of Team One had taken their turn to pace the floor but now Ed was up again and they could see him physically restraining himself from going up to the nurses station and demanding an update.

A few minutes later, just as Ed was at his wits end, a scrubs-clad doctor came from behind the ER treatment doors and made his way over to them. They all stood to meet him.

"Family of Sam Braddock?"

"We're his team with the SRU," Greg said, taking the lead. "He doesn't have any family in town aside from a young daughter."

The doctor nodded. "I'm Dr. Phillips. I've been treating Mr. Braddock since he arrived."

"Sam, please," Spike corrected. "How is he?"

The doctor sighed. "Well, he definitely took quite a beating though based on the bruising on his body and what little he's been able to tell us, it was multiple beatings."

"He's awake?" Ed asked.

"More like semi-conscious and somewhat lucid; he's been able to give us a few details here and there. He has several bruised ribs, two of which are broken. There's a large amount of bruising on his abdomen, and we're monitoring him closely, but so far there's been no sign of internal bleeding. There's a burn on his chest and Sam was able to tell us it was caused by a cattle prod…"

Dr. Phillips trailed off for a moment at the murderous looks on the faces of the men and woman in front of him. They obviously cared for their teammate and he feared what their reaction would be to the rest of the news he had to share with them.

"The burn will heal on it's own and there's no lasting damage from the shock. His wrists are swollen and bruised, most likely from being restrained. He also has a mild concussion, but the most concerning injury is the injury to his face. Sam has a broken zygomatic bone and a badly broken orbital bone."

"Broken cheekbone and eye socket?" Jules asked, shocked. "What the hell caused that?"

"A steel-toed boot to the face." Dr. Phillips answered gravely. "The break to his cheekbone is simple and clean, it should be fully healed in about six weeks. His eye socket, however, is an entirely different story. There are fractures in a few places on the bone but the most concerning is the depressed fracture near his temple. The location of the break, and the depression, is causing a large amount of fluid buildup and swelling around and, even more alarming, behind Sam's eye. The swelling is pressing on and constricting his optical nerves and if we don't relieve the pressure soon, it could cause irreversible damage. His retina has already been detached, though that could've been caused by the force of the kick and not the fracture itself."

Dr. Phillips paused for a moment to give the shell-shocked officers in front of him time to absorb all the information he just gave them.

"Irreversible damage?" Wordy asked, all of Dr. Phillip's words swirling in his mind. "Does that mean Sam could be blind?!"

Dr. Phillips sighed. "In that one eye, yes. However, we have a team of surgeons, including the city's best ophthalmologist, ready to take Sam into surgery and remove the pressure, along with repairing the fracture. We're hopeful that, with this quick response, there will be no lasting damage, but Sam can't give us a good time frame as to when this happened so we don't know how long the pressure has been building."

"So, even if the surgery to relieve the pressure is a success, Sam could still be blind in one eye?"

"We won't know anything until the surgery's done and Sam's healed enough for us to run some tests, but it is a possibility yes." Dr. Phillips answered quietly.

The members of Team One were shocked into silence as everything Dr. Phillips told them hit home.

Sam could be BLIND.

That could, _would_ , end his career as an active duty officer. He could still teach and instruct at the academy, but there would be no more Samtastic in the field, going on hot calls with them and saving the day with flawless shots and top-notch tactical plans.

Dr. Phillips clearing his throat snapped them out of their thoughts and brought them back to the present. "Sam will be taken up to surgery in a few minutes but he's insistent on talking to one of you…somethings about the case?"

As the entire team moved forward, Dr. Phillips held up his hands. "Whoa. I can only take one of you back there and just for a few moments."

After a few moments of silent discussion, Greg stepped forward. Dr. Phillips nodded to the others and led Greg through the ER doors and to the room Sam was in. Standing outside the curtain, Dr. Phillips looked at Greg. "I can maybe give you a couple minutes, but they'll be coming to take him up to surgery soon. Try to keep him calm and don't make him talk too much."

Greg nodded, and Dr. Phillips stepped away. Greg took a deep breath and walked into the curtained room.

Sam was laying on the bed, eyes closed, but his good eye cracked open when he heard someone enter the room. As Greg approached the bed, he saw, in perfect clarity, the injuries Dr. Phillips had described to them. The parts of Sam's chest that weren't wrapped or covered in pristine white gauze, were bruised and a small part of the burn was poking out of the top of the bandages on his chest. Both of his wrists were bandaged and swollen but the most shocking to Greg, were the injuries to Sam's face. Almost the entire left side of his face was swollen and various colors of purple, black, blue and red. Sam's eye itself was swollen shut but just by looking at it, Greg could see the depression Dr. Phillips told them about.

Walking up to the edge of the bed, Greg looked down at his teammate and friend. "Sam? Buddy, can you hear me?"

"Sarge," Sam said quietly. His good eye locked onto Greg.

"It's good to see you Sam. We were really worried about you." Greg said with a smile.

"Maddie?" Sam asked.

"She's fine," Greg said quickly, because he wanted to reassure Sam that she was OK and because he could see that Sam was fading fast. "She's safe and sound and being watched over by the fine men and women of the SRU. Dr. Phillips said you wanted to see one of us…is that what you wanted to ask about?"

"Partially. I—"

Before Sam could finish, a few nurses came in the room to wheel him up for surgery. As they began unhooking tubes and monitors for the move, Sam hurried to get out what he needed to tell Greg. However, due to his impending surgery and the medication being pumped into him through his IV, his consciousness was fading fast.

Making sure he had Greg's attention, even as he was being wheeled out of the room, Sam fought off unconsciousness to finish what he was trying to say. "Tell Spike…..check his email…know who did this…"

"You know who orchestrated this whole thing?" Greg asked, shocked. "Who?"

But before he got his answer, Sam had lost his consciousness.

Greg just starred at Sam's stretcher as the nurses wheeled him away.

* * *

 **Hope you guys liked it!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey guys. SO sorry it's taken me so long to update this story.**

 **Ready for my excuses? I work at a child advocacy center, where we deal with child abuse (physical, sexual, emotional) and neglect daily. That can really wear someone down. Burnout and secondary trauma is REAL and affects more than just your work life.**

 **April is also Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month meaning I've barely had time to sleep, let alone write, this month with everything my work (also read as me) has had to do this month.**

 **I also have writer's block. I know WHAT I want to happen, I just don't know how to write it and make it happen.**

 **I'm hoping that, now that April is over, things will calm down and I'll be able to write more.**

 **Thanks for sticking with me!**

 **And to the guest reviewer who said they wished I'd update more...me too friend, me too.**

* * *

 **Chapter 21: Find Her...NOW**

 **Hospital**

It was several minutes after Sam had been wheeled to surgery that Greg returned to the waiting room.

When he arrived, he was met with several anxious, expectant glances.

"How is he?" Ed asked, speaking for the group.

Greg sighed. "Well, he looks about as bad as they described. They took him to surgery a few minutes ago."

"What'd he want to talk about?"

"Well, the first thing he asked about was Maddie." Greg said with a small, sad smile. Sam was a great father. "When I asked him if that was all he wanted to talk about, he said he knew who was behind this whole thing."

Shock replaced every other emotion on the faces of Team One.

"Who?" Wordy asked.

"The medicine knocked him out before he could give me a name, but he did say to have Spike check his email…"

Before Greg could finish speaking, Spike was grabbing his laptop out of his bag and booting it up. After a few moments, Spike was in and reading his emails.

"Son of a bitch!" Spike exclaimed loudly, causing the other people in the ER waiting room to look at him disapprovingly.

The members of Team One waved off the disapproving looks without a second thought and quickly gathered around Spike's laptop.

"What is it Spike?" Ed asked, wondering what could be responsible for the normally fun-loving, mild-mannered tech genius's outburst.

Spike held up a finger, signaling for Ed to give him a moment then went back to typing furiously.

After another minute or so, Spike turned his laptop to face his teammates. As he did, he spoke. "Sam forwarded these emails to me from the scene where he was being held. I traced the IP address back to the original sender and…"

Spike pressed one final key on the keyboard and a driver's license photo popped up on the screen. "It led back to Audrey Miller; Sam's ex."

"How the hell does she have the connections to pull something like this off?!" Ed asked, anger raging in his voice.

"That doesn't matter right now," Greg said, interrupting before anyone could say anything else.

He turned his focus to Spike. "I don't care what you have to do or how many APBs you have to put out. Find her. NOW."

Spike nodded and got to work.

* * *

 **Super short chapter, sorry guys.**

 **I am at a loss as to where I want these next several chapters to go. I have plenty of ideas for chapters further down the line, but I don't want to do crazy big time jumps. If you have anything specific you'd like to see, or any ideas as to where you want this current storyline to go, PLEASE let me know! I need the inspiration.**

 **Thanks for sticking with me.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Here's a little longer chapter. Enjoy!**

 _ **Italics**_ **are flashbacks until the very end when they become thoughts.**

* * *

 **Chapter 22: Girl Time**

It was several hours past Maddie's bedtime by the time Jules carried the sleeping toddler through her front door.

After their discovery at the hospital, the following hours were busy. Spike sent APBs out to every police department, bus station and airport in the entire Ontario province. He, along with Lou, was sent back to the SRU to start looking into Audrey.

Greg and Ed headed to the police station to talk to the officers who found Sam and interrogate his captors. (Team Two had gone out to the scene after the call came in while Team One went to the hospital. Troy had called seconds after Spike's discovery and reported that Sam's captors had returned to the scene and were apprehended).

That left Wordy and Jules alone at the hospital, waiting for an update on Sam.

 _Wordy had stepped out to get coffee for the both of them and when he returned to the waiting room, he found Jules smiling down at her phone._

 _"What are you smiling about?" Wordy asked as he handed Jules her cup._

 _Jules nodded her thanks to Wordy as she took the coffee he offered her. "Winnie sent a picture of Maddie 'helping' at the dispatch desk."_

 _She turned her phone towards Wordy so he could see the picture on the screen. He smiled at the picture of the little girl wearing a headset and sitting on Winnie's lap._

 _"Maddie's a really great kid."_

 _"Yeah, she is." Jules agreed, taking a sip of her coffee. She looked at her phone one more time. "I feel bad for Sam though, because when she gets older, she's gonna be a force to be reckoned with."_

 _Wordy smiled. "Yeah, she will be."_

 _After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Jules sighed. "I hope this surgery is a success and Sam's eye is OK….I mean, his SRU career could be over if it's not."_

 _"I'm sure he'll be OK Jules; there's no way Sam's going to let this be his downfall, especially now that he knows Audrey was the mastermind behind it all. He'll probably be better than ever just to spite her." Wordy joked, trying to lighten the mood._

 _Jules didn't smile at his attempt to make her feel better. "Next to Maddie, the SRU is the most important thing in Sam's life… He's lost so much in his life Wordy, I don't want him to lose anything else."_

 _Wordy eyed Jules carefully, knowingly. He could tell Jules' feelings about their sniper had changed since Maddie, and then Audrey, came into the picture, whether she realized it or not. Wordy moved his free hand to Jules' shoulder and squeezed it comfortingly. "Sam's going to be fine Jules."_

 _And he was._

Sam's surgery was a success and the doctors were more optimistic about a full recovery than they were before.

Jules and Wordy were allowed to see him (even though he was still out from the operation) before visiting hours were over and they had to leave.

They met back at the Barn with the rest of Team One and Team Two to debrief. Sam's captors had confessed to their part in the day's peril; the head guy even confessed to showing up at Maddie's daycare. However, none of them knew where Audrey was or any future plans she might have.

Nothing had turned up from the APBs Spike put out and he and Lou found nothing in Audrey's bank statements or background information that could tell them where she was or what she was up too.

Jules and Wordy gave their update on Sam and by the time everything was done, it was approaching midnight.

After everyone had changed and discussed (argued) about who would watch Maddie and where she would stay since Sam's apartment was still considered a crime scene, it was decided that she'd go home with Jules for night.

Wordy, who had car seats already in his van, gave Maddie a ride while Jules followed behind in her Jeep.

As Jules carried Maddie into her guest room, she started to stir. She was awake by the time Jules sat her down on the bed.

"Aunty Jules?"

"Yeah Maddie?"

"Why we not at my house?"

Jules smiled. "Well, after what happened earlier, its not quite ready to go to back to yet. But it will be soon. For now, we're gonna have a sleepover."

Maddie nodded and yawned. Jules helped her get her shoes off and tucked in.

As Maddie settled into bed, she asked Jules one more question. "Is my daddy gonna be okay?"

Jules smiled and moved Maddie's hair out of her face. "Yeah, he's gonna be OK."

Maddie smiled a sleepy smile. "Good. I wuv him."

Jules smiled as Maddie drifted off to sleep.

As Jules quietly left the room, she thought to herself: _I think I do too._

* * *

 **It's been slow at work, so I'm going to try and stockpile some updates before things get crazy again.**

 **I also have an idea for another story circulating in my brain, as if keeping up with the two I have going now wasn't hard enough.**

 **Hope you guys liked this one!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: Time Jumps**

 **Evening after Sam's surgery.**

Sam's face HURT. He hadn't seen the damage yet, but he was willing to be it looked just as bad as it felt.

 _Swoon over this, ladies._ Sam thought to himself. He would've smiled, but it hurt too much.

Sam was snapped out of his musings by a knock on the door to his hospital room. In walked the smiling faces of his teammates.

"Sam, buddy, its good to see you awake and coherent," Greg said with a smile.

"How you feelin' Samo?" Ed asked as he came to a stop at the foot of Sam's bed.

Greg, Wordy, Jules, Lou and Spike spread out around the room.

"My face hurts." Sam said annoyingly.

"I bet," Spike said as he settled into a chair. "You look like you went 10 rounds with Rocky, except he used bricks instead of boxing gloves."

"Thanks Spike," Sam said sarcastically.

The team laughed and Sam smiled as best as he could.

"Where's Maddie?" Sam asked, always the concerned father.

"My house." Wordy answered. "We've got the early shift tomorrow and we didn't know how you felt about sending Maddie back to daycare just yet, so she's having a sleepover with my girls and Shel's gonna watch her tomorrow."

Sam nodded. "Thanks Wordy."

"No problem." Wordy smiled. "The girls have been begging to play with Maddie again. They squealed so loud when I told them she was spending the night I think I lost my hearing for a little bit."

Sam snorted. "Well she's neck-deep in the 'three-nager' stage right now so if your girls ever want to have a play date or a sleepover with her just say the word and I'll drop her off."

Everyone laughed, especially Greg, Ed, and Wordy who were all familiar with the phase Sam was talking about.

Ed pulled Sam's phone out of his pocket and handed it to him. "We got this back from evidence."

"I'll have Maddie call you tonight."

Sam took the phone and smiled. "Thank you."

 **One week post-kidnapping.**

"Son of a bitch!"

At his yell, the members of Team One ran into the briefing room to find Spike typing furiously on his laptop.

"Spike, what the hell?" Ed asked as he entered the room. "What's wrong?"

"I found Audrey."

"Really?" Jules asked, a smile forming on her face. "That's great Spike!"

"Why don't you seem happy about that?" Lou asked.

"Because she's in Morocco."

Understanding dawned on Greg. "And Morocco doesn't extradite to Canada."

"Exactly." Spike said with a frown.

"Damn." Wordy said, speaking for the team.

 **One month post-kidnapping.**

The month following Sam's kidnapping had been a difficult one for the Braddocks. The normally vivacious and independent Maddie was super clingy and attached to Sam. Despite the attention and the visits she received from her aunt and uncles on Team One, and the fun she had with Wordy's girls and Izzy, she was always hesitant to leave Sam and antsy once she was away from him.

Maddie was obviously traumatized by everything that had happened. Sam started taking her to a therapist, wanting to give her a healthy way to deal with trauma unlike what his father did with him.

Therapy, returning to (now even more secure) daycare and getting back on a schedule seemed to help and by the time the one-month mark rolled around, Sam was seeing more and more of his little girl again.

Sam's recovery issues were not so easily solved. He struggled for weeks with headaches, dizziness, fatigue, forgetfulness and blurred vision, all stemming from his concussion and face injury.

His doctor diagnosed him with Post Concussion Syndrome and couldn't give him a specific time frame as to when his symptoms would disappear. They could last a week or linger for months.

Thankfully, most of Sam's symptoms diminished after the first two weeks. However, the one symptom that didn't go away was the blurry vision.

The ophthalmologist that performed his surgery told Sam that he was putting too much strain on his healing eye and instructed him to wear a patch on that eye until his next appointment.

After a full week of wearing the eye patch (and a full week of pirate jokes from Spike), Sam went back to his ophthalmologist. His team told him to be optimistic, but Sam had learned throughout his life that he needed to trust his instincts, and his instincts were telling him the patch didn't help.

As usual, his instincts were right.

His eye had not improved; his vision was still as blurry as it was before the patch.

They had to discuss 'Plan B', because Sam was NOT going to let Audrey take something else from him again.

* * *

 **Another shortish chapter but hopefully the next one, now that all the time jumps are done, will be longer.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed!**


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